Two Aquatint engravings by William Henry Pyne, both engraved by 'Smart & Hunt', titled 'Cheap Meat', showing an angry man bursting into an eighteenth-century bookshop, and 'A Thief in the Kirk', showing a man in tartan running through a congregation.

Author: 
William Henry Pyne (1769-1843), author and artist; S. & J. Fuller, 34 Rathbone Place, London printsellers
Publication details: 
Both 'London, Published July 1, 1822, by S. & J. Fuller, 34, Rathbone Place.'
£220.00
SKU: 15964

Both in the same style. ONE: 'Cheap Meat.' Dimensions: paper 25 x 29.5 cm; plate 22.5 x 27.5 cm; image 18.5 x 23.5 cm. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight discoloration to corners from previous mounting. Beneath plate: 'W. H. Pyne delt. Smart & Hunt sculpt.' A curious eighteenth-century scene, the significance of which is now lost, showing an angry old man in greatcoat and hat, a laughing crowd in the street behind him, bursting in to a bookshop and knocking over a stool and inkpot, to the surprise and outrage of an old woman with a stick, a younger woman and dog, while the owner, quill pen behind ear, leans over from behind the counter, and a young clerk in a pulpit looks down smiling. TWO: 'A Thief in the Kirk.' Dimensions: paper 23.5 x 29 cm; plate 22 x 27 cm; image 18 x 23.5 cm. In good condition, with slight damage to corners from previous mounting, and light damp staining to head of border. The fiendish looking thief, clutching his bonnet, and dressed in tartan jacket and kilt, vaults over a pew to make his escape, while the minister, his clerk, and a congregation of grotesques (including the obligatory beautiful young girl) look on. As with the other print, no information on this illustration has been discovered.