Huntsman

Samuel Alken, Sr. (1756-1815) was an English printmaker and watercolour artist. Even though he initially entered the Royal Academy Schools in London as a sculptor, his reputation now rests on his achievements as a printmaker, especially in the new technique of aquatint. He produced engravings after artists such as George Morland, Richard Wilson, Thomas Rowlandson, and Francis Wheatley, but also created his own original designs.

Another large portion of his oeuvre now found in public collections consists of watercolours and oil paintings of hunting scenes. The fox hunt became an activity with unprecedented popularity in England during the nineteenth century, partly because it was a sport that was accessible to the new middle classes. Illustrations such as these would have been used like instructive manuals for the hobby hunters, demonstrating to them how to distinguish themselves on the hunting field. The huntsman in this work, depicted in watercolour and graphite, is characteristic of Alken’s practice, which places a lot of attention to the detail in the riders’ clothing and poses of the horses.

Two of Alken’s sons, Samuel Alken, Jr. (1784-c.1825) and Henry Thomas Alken (1785-1851), also became prominent artists of sporting subjects.

Further reading:

Mallalieu, H.L. (1986), The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists up to 1920: Volume I – The Text, 2nd edition, Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club.