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An Original Pen and Ink Cartoon, with Watercolour wash, 'Crimea', circa 1853. Paper size 10.5" x 8", mounted with museum board 16" x 11.5". "Crimea", appears as a newspaper headline within the drawing. Captioned in ink - Johnny, R-U: "I say, Abby, My old-un. The Vestminster Sessions is fired for the 19th. If you ain't prepared with your Defence you'd better cut". The caricatures being, Earl John Russell, Prime Minister, 1865-1866 and George Hamilton Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister, 1852-55. An original drawing in ink circa 1853 from an exceptional collection of drawings by or after John Leech 1817 - 1864. Leech contributed in excess of one thousand cartoons to Punch Magazine during the middle years of the Nineteenth Century, reflecting the moods and manners of Victorian England and providing us with a unique glimpse into their lives. Leech's drawings for Punch or for book illustrations were usually quite cursory sketches, leaving the details to be completed by the wood-engravers prior to their printing for publication. Genuine, high-quality finished drawings by Leech are not unknown and do occasionally appear on the market, as opposed to the poor imitations that are sometimes seen. This small collection of pen and ink drawings are highly finished with a spontaneity and mastery of the medium to suggest they are by Leech, and although unsigned, one of the drawings in the collection is inscribed, 'Original Sketch by Mr Punch's Little Boy, 1853'. Near fine condition. (A full illustrated list of this collection is available on request). Seller Inventory # 1420L
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