Text page for "A Slap at a Park Fence" (Primary Title)
Hunting Qualifications (Series Title)

Henry Thomas Alken, English, 1785–1851 (Artist)

1829
English
Works On Paper
Prints
Letterpress on wove paper
Sheet: 11 1/4 × 15 in. (28.58 × 38.1 cm)
85.1309.3a
Not on view
Printed on front: "A SLAP AT A PARK-FENCE. / HAVING gained the enviable situation of a front-rank man, you next / cram your horse at an early difficulty ; in the present instance, at a park- / fence, with a flight of rails off. There must be no hesitation. You and / your horse must get over, and no questions asked about the style in which / the thing is done. Get over it, I say, and pick yourself up as well as / you can : / [verse] For ev'n the Qualified will get a purl / As well as other men, / And first-rate horses chance to hurl / Their riders now and then : / At heavy fences they must dash, Which sometimes overthrow / The horse and rider, with a smash / That feels but just so--so." Inscribed in graphite on verso: "HRH 20 / 22 / 1"
Paul Mellon Collection
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

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