Description
Henry William Bunbury was a socially well-connected artist from the upper classes of British society, friends with prominent men like the painter Joshua Reynolds. After a Grand Tour in the late 1760s, he began a military career, and in 1787 he was appointed equerry to Frederick, Duke of York, and became a familiar and popular figure at court. He specialized in subjects from his experiences as a gentleman and courtier that also appealed to his patrons, including Cambridge, the Grand Tour, military life and horsemanship. Although the writer Horace Walpole compared him favorably to William Hogarth, when Bunbury ventured into satire, it tended toward the gentle humor of this print, rather than the scathing commentary of some of his 18th century contemporaries like Hogarth.
James Bretherton was an etcher, engraver, printseller, and drawing master, known especially for his etchings and aquatints after Henry William Bunbury. His firm was located at 134 New Bond Street from 1771 to 1799.
Full publication information: H.W. Bunbury delin. 1772, J. Bretherton f. Publish’d as the Act directs 29th March 1772 by J. Bretherton No. 134. New Bond Street.
Condition: Generally very good, recently professionally cleaned and deacidified with light remaining toning and wear.
References:
“Bretherton, James.” https://bookhistory.blogspot.com/2007/01/london-1775-1800-b.html (5 September 2018).
“Henry William Bunbury.” The Grove Dictionary of Art. Online at Artnet.com.http://www.artnet.com/library/01/0122/T012262.asp
