Lot 598: SMITH, Charles Lorraine (1751-1835, artist). [The Pytchely Hunt]. London: H. Humphrey

SMITH, Charles Lorraine (1751-1835, artist). [The Pytchely Hunt]. London: H. Humphrey, 1791.

Oblong 2° (370 x 505mm). Early 20th-century frontispiece leaf with hand-coloured aquatint portrait of Dick Knight mounted within gilt border and titled in gilt below, enclosed by side-borders of watercolour vignettes with a fox's-mask and -brush design beneath. The complete set of 8 hand-coloured aquatint plates by Francis Jukes after Smith, each c. 247 x 265mm, mounted within gilt borders. (A few light spots on frontispiece, one plate with small tear.) Early 20th-century red morocco gilt, covers with double gilt rules, front cover titled in gilt: 'A Distinguished Character in the "Pychely Hunt"', spine gilt, gilt turn-ins, red silk endleaves with gilt fox-mask cornerpieces, gilt edges (a few light scuffs). Provenance: C.F.G.R. Schwerdt (bookplate; his sale, 19 June 1939, lot 824).

A FINE SET OF JUKES' AQUATINTS AFTER SMITH, which are, according to Siltzer, the only prints to depict the Pytchley Hunt. 'Charles Lorraine Smith... was himself a great hunter and a friend of the famous Hugo Meynell. He was also an amateur artist and his pictures show the result of the happy combination of his hunting experience and artistic temperament' (Schwerdt). Dick Knight, the subject of the frontispiece, 'was huntsman to Lord Spencer, the Master of the Pytchely, during whose mastership there was great rivalry between the followers of the Pytchely and those of the Quorn hunts. Dick Knight's feat was the result of a wager that he would be beaten that day by one of the Quornites, and Plate 3 "Now Contract..." shows how he got over an apparently unjumpable place, where the Quornites failed to follow him. To achieve his end he had to ride three different horses, the last one being the leader of a ploughing team' (Schwerdt). This set is the second of the two earliest states, with imprints dated 1 May 1791 (the first state imprints are dated March 1790 and (?erroneously) March 1791). SCHWERDT COPY. Schwerdt III, pp. 89; Siltzer British Sporting Prints p. 255.

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