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Henry Thomas Alken
Henry Thomas Alken

Henry Thomas Alken

English, 1785 – 1851
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Henry Thomas Alken was an English painter and engraver chiefly known as a caricaturist and illustrator of sporting subjects and coaching scenes. His most prolific period of painting and drawing occurred between 1816 and 1831.

Alken was born on 12 October 1785 in Soho, Westminster, and baptised on 6 November at St James's Church, Piccadilly. He was the third son of Samuel Alken, a sporting artist. Two of his brothers were George and Samuel Alken the Younger, also an artist. In 1789, the Alken family moved from Soho to 2, Francis Street East, Bedford Square.

Young Henry first studied under his father and then with the miniature painter John Thomas Barber Beaumont (1774–1841), also known as J. T. Barber. In 1801, Alken sent a miniature portrait of Miss Gubbins to the Royal Academy Exhibition. He exhibited a second miniature at the Royal Academy before abandoning miniature painting and taking on painting and illustrating. Early in his career, he painted sporting subjects under the name of "Ben Tally-O". Alken married Maria Gordon on 14 October 1809 at St Clement's Church, Ipswich. On 22 August of the following year later the couple's first son was baptised. Alken went on to father five children, of whom two were artists, Samuel Henry, also a sporting artist, known as Henry Alken junior, and Sefferien junior.

From about 1816 onwards Alken "produced an unending stream of paintings, drawings and engravings of every type of field and other sporting activity," and his soft-ground etchings were often colored by hand. When Alken was 26, he and his young family lived over a shop in Haymarket that belonged to print publisher Thomas McLean of the "Repository of Wit and Humour." McLean paid Alken a daily wage of thirty shillings, considered a good income at the time.

Alken died in April 1851 and was buried in Highgate cemetery. Although fairly affluent for most of his career, he fell on hard times towards the end of his life and was buried at his daughter's expense.

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‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving …’ You Discover you Have Overlooked a Small Post on you Whip Hand

‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving …’ You Discover you Have Overlooked a Small Post on you Whip Hand

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving…’ You Discover that the Reins are Under His Tail

‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving…’ You Discover that the Reins are Under His Tail

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving;’ … Trying a New Match you Discover That They are Not Only Alike in Color, Weight and Action, but in Disposition

‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving;’ … Trying a New Match you Discover That They are Not Only Alike in Color, Weight and Action, but in Disposition

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving;’ … Up and Down, or the Endeavor to Discover Which Way Your Horse is Inclined to Come Down, Backwards or Forwards

‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving;’ … Up and Down, or the Endeavor to Discover Which Way Your Horse is Inclined to Come Down, Backwards or Forwards

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving;’ …You Discover a New Way of Bringing Your Equipage into a Small Compass

‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving;’ …You Discover a New Way of Bringing Your Equipage into a Small Compass

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving;’ …You Discover You Have Obtained a Steady One

‘Sporting Discoveries, or the Miseries of Driving;’ …You Discover You Have Obtained a Steady One

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; Five Riders Galloping Right

Steeplechasing; Five Riders Galloping Right

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; Four Riders Taking a Ditch and an Oxer

Steeplechasing; Four Riders Taking a Ditch and an Oxer

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; The Field Coming up to a Ditch

Steeplechasing; The Field Coming up to a Ditch

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; The Field Jumping in and Out of a Lane

Steeplechasing; The Field Jumping in and Out of a Lane

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; The Field Jumping Into and Out of a Lane

Steeplechasing; The Field Jumping Into and Out of a Lane

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; The Field taking a Low Rail and a Brook

Steeplechasing; The Field taking a Low Rail and a Brook

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; The Field taking a Stone Wall and Gate

Steeplechasing; The Field taking a Stone Wall and Gate

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; The Finish

Steeplechasing; The Finish

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; The Start

Steeplechasing; The Start

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; Three Riders Galloping to Right, Mounted Spectators in Background

Steeplechasing; Three Riders Galloping to Right, Mounted Spectators in Background

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; Three Riders Taking a Brook

Steeplechasing; Three Riders Taking a Brook (ca. 1825)

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; Three Riders Taking a Brook, Spectators on Right

Steeplechasing; Three Riders Taking a Brook, Spectators on Right

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Steeplechasing; Two Riders Taking a Wooden Fence

Steeplechasing; Two Riders Taking a Wooden Fence

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
Swishing a Rasper

Swishing a Rasper

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Check; ‘What the Devil Do You Do Here..’

The Check; ‘What the Devil Do You Do Here..’

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
‘The Cover Hack’

‘The Cover Hack’ (1827)

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Death; Huntsman Holding Fox Aloft

The Death; Huntsman Holding Fox Aloft

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Death; The Fox Hoist to a Fence

The Death; The Fox Hoist to a Fence

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Death; Yokels Watching in Foreground

The Death; Yokels Watching in Foreground

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Huntsman and a Rider Encouraging the Hounds

The Huntsman and a Rider Encouraging the Hounds

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Huntsman, Galloping to Left and Encouraging Hounds

The Huntsman, Galloping to Left and Encouraging Hounds

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Ice-Wagon

The Ice-Wagon

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Leap; ‘That Will Shut Out Many, and Make the Thing Select’

The Leap; ‘That Will Shut Out Many, and Make the Thing Select’

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
The Meet; ‘With Bright Faces and Merry Hearts’

The Meet; ‘With Bright Faces and Merry Hearts’

Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785 – 1851)
Figurative
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