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1995.6: Sketch of the Fancy Fair at Sydney Gardens, Bath

1995.6: Sketch of the Fancy Fair at Sydney Gardens, Bath
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© The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
Museum number 1995.6
Title Sketch of the Fancy Fair at Sydney Gardens, Bath
Additional title Sketch of the Fancy Fair at Sydney Gardens, Bath for the Relief of Distressed Seamen.
Object type In category: Pictures » Print » Lithograph
Date Circa 1836
People Unknown - Artist(s)
Unknown - Lithographer(s)
Place of origin Europe » Northern Europe » British Isles » Great Britain » England
Condition Fair
Dimensions 17.0 cm height image size
23.2 cm width image size
19.2 cm height sight size
24.1 cm width sight size
33.7 cm height frame
39.0 cm width frame
Materials & techniques In categories:
Pictures: Medium » Ink
Pictures: Medium » Paint » Watercolour
Pictures: Support » Paper

Description

Hand-coloured lithograph.

Garden to rear of Sydney hotel with row of supper boxes in the middle distance and part of rear elevation of Hotel visible on the right. The supper boxes are draped with British and French flags which act as awnings; women and children crowd round tables within the supper boxes, which are being used as stalls. In the middle ground, a group stands round a harpist seated under a tree. Beside it, a long table with seated figures. In the foreground, men, women, children and a dog promenading. Mounted, glazed with perspex in a modern 'Hogarth' frame.

Marks and inscriptions
Inscription Location Method
SKETCH OF THE FANCY FAIR AT SYDNEY GARDENS, BATH // For the Relief of Distressed Seamen. Front, below image Printed
Lithograph c1840 Adhesive label on backboard Ballpoint pen, in hand of Frank Brown
Holburne Museum 1995-6 Adhesive label on backboard Ink, in hand of Barbara Milner
Subject Buildings and gardens
Notes In this scene, the Sydney Gardens supper boxes can be seen in use as stalls. Although previously dated to c.1840, the costumes would indicate a date around 1830. See 1997.2.
Literature James Lees-Milne and David Ford, Images of Bath, Richmond-upon-Thames, 1982: Cat. 270
Muse theme
Art and Culture in Georgian Bath 1714-1830
Muse chapter The History of the Holburne Collection » The Museum Building » The Sydney Hotel
The History of the Holburne Collection » The Collection » Works on Paper
Art and Culture in Georgian Bath 1714-1830 » Leisure » Parades and Pleasure Gardens
Gallery Label

Sketch of the Fancy Fair, Sydney Gardens, Bath

 
Hand-coloured lithograph, c.1836

 
The Holburne Museum of Art, 1995.6

  
This anonymous lithograph is inscribed 'Sketch of the Fancy Fair at Sydney Gardens, Bath, For the Relief of Distressed Seamen'. Although undated, it appears to depict the rear elevation of the Hotel shortly after it was converted into a 'private lodging house' and renamed the Pulteney Hotel in 1836.

 
The row of supper boxes that extended from the south side of the Hotel is depicted in use as stalls for the fancy fair. They are draped with British and French flags which act as awnings.  Women and children crowd round tables within them. The boxes on the far left of the picture were converted into a Cosmorama in the early 1820s. This was an indoor peepshow, where brightly-lit paintings of distant places and dramatic scenes such as Vesuvius erupting were viewed through convex glass windows to make them appear life sized. Exactly opposite the Cosmorama, in the last three supper boxes on the north side was an Aviary which housed over 140 rare and exotic birds.

 

 


(Winterbottom, Matthew)
6-7-2007

Method of acquisition Gift
Provenance

Collection of Frank Brown, by whom given to the Museum

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