smith john pugilist (1 Ergebnisse)

Engraved portrait (319 x 200mm), on laid paper (slightly browned); trimmed almost to edge of image, window-mounted in modern paper. A fine whole-length engraved portrait of a notable London character of the 1770s. John 'Buckhorse' Smith was a pugilist who could be seen in the shadier parts of London. He was famous for his ugliness (no doubt the damage he suffered in the ring did not enhance his beauty), and was also celebrated for his toughness. He apparently made money in Covent Garden by allowing men to hit him for a fee, with sticks which he carried around with him in this dramatic print, he is shown carrying a bundle of such sticks. Under the picture are verses which make reference to another famous pugilist of the time, John Broughton (1703-89), who had retired from fighting after his famous battle with John Slack in 1750: Ye roaring Blades who nightly rove, Ye fam'd Broughtonian Sons; With pleasure cast your Eyes above And stag poor Bucky's Muns. Like greater Blackguards he ne'er rails For Pension, Place or Fee; But honest Industry prevails Nor dreads the fatal Tree. Thomas Bowen was in business as a printseller at the Golden Pallet off the Haymarket in the mid-century, at first as assistant to his father Emanuel Bowen (d. 1767) and then on his own. He was certainly prosperous and published many maps, but he ended his days in the Clerkenwell workhouse in 1790. This vivid portrait of a notable London nocturnal character was probably published sometime in the 1770s. See the BM Catalogue of Portraits, IV p. 126.