Caricature

03524 — : 1840. A Unique and Complete Album of 121 Grotesque Watercolors<br /> An Extraordinary Satirical Cycle Concluding with "Finis"<br /> <br /> CARICATURE. Grotesque Sketches by Uncle Walpole. Taken down from the walls of his late dwelling The Hermitage. 1840. Veluti in Speculum As in a mirror. England ca. 1840-1847.<br /> <br /> Large folio 21 1/8 x 13 inches; 536 x 330 mm. Title and eighty-seven leaves of which thirty-four carry colored images on both recto and verso comprising in total 121 original watercolor caricatures.<br /> <br /> Album worn and defective; spine perished covers detached gatherings exposed; plates generally good but a few with marginal tears occasional stains creasing to lower blank corners and title-page worn and torn at margins.<br /> <br /> A unique complete and unpublished satirical album conceived from the outset as a self-contained cycle of grotesque invention and brought to a formal close with a final sheet boldly inscribed "Finis." <br /> <br /> The suite encompasses an extraordinary range of imagery - from miniature comic vignettes to fully realized grotesque tableaux - all executed with wit invention and a distinctively theatrical presence. The subjects are social caricature grotesque physiognomy phrenological satire anthropomorphic beasts drinking and domestic quarrels hybrid demons and burlesque "scientific" scenes.<br /> <br /> The title-leaf and fifty-four watercolors are painted directly on single sheets; many of the earlier examples are cut to shape and mounted some on both recto and verso of the same support while the later sequence plates 40-121 consists largely of full single-sheet compositions. This mixture lends the album a dynamic collage-like quality while also underscoring the compiler's intention to preserve the entirety as a coherent anthology.<br /> <br /> Technically accomplished and often striking in palette - washes occasionally heightened with gum arabic - the drawings show affinities with the satirical traditions of Rowlandson Woodward Gillray and Cruikshank and with the anthropomorphic grotesqueries of Grandville though always refracted through a more private eccentric and at times fantastical imagination.<br /> <br /> Rich in humor fantasy and biting caricature this album is a rare survival of early nineteenth-century satirical art outside the published print trade. Its scale completeness and the emphatic "Finis" at its conclusion mark it as a deliberately conceived satirical masterpiece - a testament to the vigor of the grotesque tradition at the threshold of the Victorian age.<br /> <br /> Several sheets introduce demons grotesques and animals behaving as humans e.g. a devil playing drums a fantasy orchestra of beasts hybrid figures on pedestals. This echoes the satirical tradition of Grandville's later anthropomorphic works though here much earlier aligning stylistically with ca. 1780-1820 English caricature practice.<br /> <br /> The repeated presence of figures handling skulls and engaged in speculative discussion suggests parody of early phrenological study which began circulating in Britain in the late 18th century and became a fashionable topic by the 1810s-20s.<br /> <br /> The grotesque tradition in British and Continental art stretches from the Renaissance to the caricatures of Hogarth and his successors but works of this scope and completeness in watercolor are exceptionally rare. This series appears to have been conceived as a private album not intended for publication though it shares affinities with satirical caricature suites circulating in London and Paris during the 1820s-1840s.<br /> The careful numbering of plates and the emphatic "Finis" suggest a deliberate almost book-like conception - a private "volume" of grotesques. Such albums are seldom encountered in so complete and internally consistent a state.<br /> <br /> To our knowledge no other record of this album exists in bibliographies institutional catalogs or auction histories. Its playful title-page ascribes authorship to "Uncle Walpole" tying it suggestively if perhaps jokingly to the Walpolean tradition of grotesque collecting and satire.<br /> <br /> A unique and complete visual manuscript comprising title and 121 grotesque watercolors forming a finished cycle of satirical invention. With its mixture of mounted cut-outs recto/verso compositions and full-sheet watercolors culminating in the artist's explicit conclusion this album stands as a rare survival of private grotesque satire worthy of institutional acquisition or inclusion in a major private collection of caricature and illustration.<br /> <br /> List of Watercolors:<br /> <br /> Title: Illustrated title-leaf with grotesque framing figures inscribed as above.<br /> Plates 1-10 earlier sequence many cut to shape and mounted<br /> Grotesque heads in profile exaggerated physiognomy.<br /> Rustic figure with staff flanked by grotesques.<br /> Demon tormenting a sleeping man nightmare scene.<br /> Donkey-headed musician playing drum.<br /> Two grotesque clowns quarreling.<br /> Group of hybrid birds with human bodies.<br /> Drinker with long pipe tavern scene.<br /> Monk with devil whispering at shoulder.<br /> Grotesque family group caricature of domestic life.<br /> Bird-headed figure addressing a crowd.<br /> Plates 11-20<br /> Carnival mask and puppet-show figures.<br /> Hybrid demon playing fiddle.<br /> Physiognomic caricature of a scholar with spectacles.<br /> Group of women in quarrel grotesquely exaggerated.<br /> Pair of grotesque dancers.<br /> Satirical quack-doctor examining a bottle.<br /> Animal-headed musicians in concert.<br /> Devil prodding a cleric with a fork.<br /> Group at table with grotesque expressions.<br /> Bird-headed lovers conversing.<br /> Plates 21-30<br /> Figure with skull parody of phrenological study.<br /> Group of grotesques carrying banners.<br /> Drinking bout rustic grotesques with tankards.<br /> Masked devil leaping in theatrical pose.<br /> Bird-headed man astride a grotesque beast.<br /> Pair of grotesques playing cards.<br /> Domestic quarrel - man and woman gesturing wildly.<br /> Procession of hybrid figures.<br /> Clownish grotesque with exaggerated smile.<br /> Orchestra of animals parody of concert performance.<br /> Plates 31-40<br /> Grotesque portrait head with massive nose.<br /> Rustic couple grotesquely caricatured.<br /> Scholar with long beard peering into book.<br /> Donkey-headed fiddler.<br /> Hybrid grotesques climbing a pedestal.<br /> Allegorical grotesque with staff and orb.<br /> Phrenological satire: man measuring another's skull.<br /> Caricatured monk with grotesque features.<br /> Pair of grotesques at a tavern bench.<br /> Mounted composition: several grotesque vignettes.<br /> Plates 41-60 largely full-sheet watercolors<br /> Jack Sheppard's gravestone literary reference.<br /> Two grotesques in heated debate.<br /> Hybrid animal figure with exaggerated tail.<br /> Devil drumming grotesque band scene.<br /> Rustic grotesque in long coat comic profile.<br /> Procession of grotesques with banner.<br /> Family group at table distorted expressions.<br /> Pair of grotesque dancers in theatrical setting.<br /> Phrenological scene figures handling skulls.<br /> Bird-headed man reading from a lectern.<br /> Grotesque doctor and patient.<br /> Large grotesque portrait bust.<br /> Drinking scene with grotesque peasants.<br /> Animal-headed grotesques in conversation.<br /> Devil and monk contending over a book.<br /> Carnival procession of grotesques.<br /> Rustic grotesque with exaggerated hat.<br /> Pair of grotesques embracing.<br /> Hybrid demon climbing.<br /> Orchestra of beasts parody of philharmonic.<br /> Plates 61-90<br /> Group of grotesques at long table.<br /> Bird-headed grotesque holding staff.<br /> Scholar with open book distorted face.<br /> Quack apothecary with vials.<br /> Hybrid grotesque fiddler.<br /> Caricature of rustic couple in quarrel.<br /> Devil whispering into scholar's ear.<br /> Grotesque portrait of corpulent man.<br /> Drinking and smoking scene.<br /> Hybrid grotesques riding beasts.<br /> Procession of grotesques in carnival.<br /> Man holding skull phrenological parody.<br /> Group of grotesque musicians.<br /> Donkey-headed man with pipe.<br /> Comic rustic grotesque in profile.<br /> Pair of grotesques dancing.<br /> Scholar with exaggerated spectacles.<br /> Demon tormenting a sleeper.<br /> Bird-headed grotesque at pulpit.<br /> Hybrid grotesques cavorting.<br /> Domestic quarrel scene.<br /> Large grotesque head.<br /> Family at supper grotesquely caricatured.<br /> Hybrid grotesque with banner.<br /> Carnival parade with demons.<br /> Drinking grotesques in tavern.<br /> Hybrid grotesques playing instruments.<br /> Rustic grotesque in hat.<br /> Quarrelling grotesques in dialogue.<br /> Caricature of doctor bleeding a patient.<br /> Plates 91-121 final sequence<br /> Large grotesque head with absurdly long nose.<br /> Group of grotesque musicians.<br /> Hybrid grotesque preacher.<br /> Procession of grotesques in mask-like profiles.<br /> Pair of grotesque dancers.<br /> Animal-headed grotesques in quarrel.<br /> Phrenological parody with skulls.<br /> Rustic grotesques at tavern.<br /> Demon whispering into man's ear.<br /> Grotesque fiddler.<br /> Carnival scene with grotesques.<br /> Bird-headed grotesque with banner.<br /> Hybrid grotesques wrestling.<br /> Pair of grotesques in comic pose.<br /> Large grotesque portrait.<br /> Donkey-headed grotesque.<br /> Phrenological scene with book and skull.<br /> Drinking grotesques with tankards.<br /> Family group caricature.<br /> Hybrid grotesque on pedestal.<br /> Group of grotesque musicians.<br /> Domestic quarrel.<br /> Demon tormenting grotesque.<br /> Bird-headed grotesque.<br /> Hybrid grotesques in procession.<br /> Doctor with grotesque patient.<br /> Large grotesque bust.<br /> Carnival grotesques.<br /> Rustic grotesque with pipe.<br /> Two grotesques in confrontation.<br /> Final plate: two grotesque figures with inscription "Finis" below. : , 1840 unknown