Alken, Henry the First Steeple-Chase on Record (Set of Two Framed)

ALKEN, Henry
Beautiful pair/set of two aquatints coloured by hand racing prints depicting The First Steeple-Chase on record. The pair of aquatints are both ‘Drawn by H. Alken. Engraved by J. Harris. London, Published March 1st. 1839, by Ben. Brooks, at his Eclipse Sporting Gallery, 48, High Street. Oxford.’ This pair comprises Plate I titled “Ipswich, the Watering-place behind the Barracks”, and Plate IV “Nacton Church and Village”. [The First Steeple Chase on Record series, comprising a set of two of the series of four plates. London: John Harris the Younger After: Henry Thomas Alken]
Unusual for depicting night scenes;
Plate 1; Several men, all wearing white nightcaps, on horses, others preparing to mount, soldiers in uniform attending to riders, with barracks in the background; scene illuminated by moonlight circa 1839. and
Plate 4; night scene, riders, wearing white nightcaps, gallop through a road in a village, waving to villagers, who watch from their windows and doorways, with handkerchiefs; church and house in the background circa 1839,
these two aquatints are from a series of four plates published in “A Monthly Chronicle of The Turf, The Chase, and Rural Sports in all their Varieties”, a nineteenth-century monthly which reported on the present-day equestrian sporting life. Drawn by Henry Alken, a leading British sporting artist.
Both antique prints have been custom framed with brown and tan linen matting and wood frames behind glass.
Dimensions:
Height 22 inches x Width 25 1/2 inches x Depth 1 inch
Print:Height 14 1/2 x Width 17 1/2

Very good condition. The aquatint is beautifully Double matted (some color fading and light browning from age) and is framed in a brown wood frame (slight scuff marks on the frame) with glass.