Changing Horses at the Plough,H.Alken,McQueen's Coaching,English tavern genre

Description: image is 12x23framing is 23x35 and the frame, which is old, is ready to hang - no guaranty on the glass and I'll be glad to remove it for transport engraving by CR Stockpainted by Henry Alkenpublished by GP McQueen, 70 Berners St, Oxford, England 5/15/1882from the series "McQueen's Coachings Coaching - whatever THAT is - I have a degree and some grad school in history, primarily British, and I'm still a bit unclear. Given the profusion of artwork that was made into prints for widespread distribution, we have to assume it caught the fancy of the masses. Soooo - it's the 19th century and you got around on foot - a LOT - and on horseback if you COULD afford it. Going to the weekly market was at most 17ish miles away, given the licensing that established "market towns", so getting there was an event whether shopping or peddling your produce. For meat peddling, you actually herded on the hoof and slaughtered AT the market. As for visiting, well, you just DIDN'T, unless you could spend a few days, and getting there was a chore, even if you were a person of means. Whether you were on the Continent or in the British Isles, or in America, the fascination with mobility was universal. Henry Alken painted prolifically, making a career primarily centered around anything horsey. Hunt scenes, racing, sporting of any sort, and coaching were his milieu. If you look at 50 of his works, you see a portrayal of the partnership of man and animal in challenging situations. You see horse and rider in extremis, failing to clear obstacles, struggling against the odds, sinking in mud, the realities of one of many types of tough life. The Western World was obsessed by rail travel, but Alken painted relatively few works based around trains. Could be he just was less interested in machines. An Alken expert could tell us. The man had a sense of humor. Notice the sign on the tavern. H. Alken. A crowd gathered at the center of the village when the coach arrived. They met the arrival of mail and dealt with expected packages and travelers. This was the first era that you might actually KNOW someone on a public conveyance. Folks with wealth would have their own carriage or horse, and the farmer down the road might never in his life experience ticketed travel, but your niece or grandmother might be arriving to live with you or a business person might be traveling. A poor cousin might come to stay forever. Someone being hired as a nanny, butler, head housekeeper, personal secretary, or middle management person, the sort of position attained through letters of reference, they would arrive by ticketed travel. Coach travel was exotic and challenging. It might be robbed or an axle might break. One would be exposed potentially to riffraff. Just the act of handling the team consistently without a disaster was a challenge that led to competitive events. A driver traveled with someone who rode shotgun for very good reason. Alken can tell us a lot about the folks who lived in my grandparents' era. Most items are shipped, however if you are local and want to take a little ride and save the shipping, that's up to you. Local pickup actually means that you plan to pick up your purchases in person, great in the case of heavy or large packages and furniture. It costs you nothing. Please make your arrangements with me. Please. Understand that if you want your items delivered to your door with any likelihood of surviving the barbarians that carry them, it will require packaging on our end and a shipping label, the cost of which is determined based upon weight and dimensions. I don't invent these things. 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Price: 149.99 USD

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

End Time: 2025-01-16T18:23:06.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD