Circus-Carasousels etc

The modern circus — combining equestrian performance, acrobatics, clowning and wild animal acts in a circular ring — was invented by Philip Astley in London in 1768, and within a generation had spread across Europe and America to become one of the dominant forms of popular entertainment in the Western world. The prints produced in connection with this remarkable institution document its development from the early equestrian displays of the late eighteenth century to the vast three-ring spectacles of the late Victorian era with a vividness that reflects both the visual drama of circus performance and the commercial energy of the promotional culture that surrounded it.

Circus promotional imagery — the posters, handbills and illustrated programmes produced to attract audiences to specific performances — constitutes a distinct category of antique print of great visual energy and historical interest. The woodcut and later lithographic circus poster, with its bold typography, its dramatic depictions of performers and animals in action and its calculated appeal to excitement and wonder, developed a visual vocabulary quite distinct from the more restrained conventions of other commercial printing. The finest circus posters of the nineteenth century are among the most accomplished examples of commercial graphic art from any period, and they are collected both for their visual quality and as documents of the promotional culture of popular entertainment.

Equestrian performance — the foundation of the circus from Astley’s earliest shows — generated illustration of considerable refinement. The trained horse, performing movements derived from classical dressage and adapted for popular entertainment, attracted artists who combined an interest in equine anatomy and movement with an appreciation of the theatrical context in which these skills were displayed. The equestrian performers of the major circus companies — many of them women, whose participation in circus riding challenged the conventions of feminine physical capability that governed most Victorian sports — appear in prints that document both the technical achievements of the performers and the social world of the circus ring.

The carousel — the mechanically powered roundabout that became a fixture of fairs and pleasure gardens from the eighteenth century onwards — generated its own illustrative tradition, distinct from but related to the circus. The mechanical ingenuity of early carousel construction, the elaborately carved and painted horses and other riding figures, and the festive social atmosphere of the fairground context all attracted illustrators who found in the carousel a subject of considerable visual interest. These images document the material culture of popular mechanical entertainment in a way that no other source can provide.

Wild animal acts — lions, tigers, elephants and the full range of exotic species displayed, trained and performed in the circus context — generated some of the most dramatic imagery in the entire tradition of popular entertainment illustration. The lion tamer in the cage, the elephant balancing on a tub, the performing bears and the exotic menageries that many circus companies maintained alongside their performance acts all appear in prints that combine documentary observation with the visual excitement that was the commercial purpose of the imagery.

For collectors of social history, the history of popular culture or the visual art of commercial promotion, antique circus prints offer material of exceptional variety and consistent visual energy. The world they document — the travelling circus, the pleasure fair, the mechanised carousel — has largely vanished, and the prints that preserve its visual record are among the most immediately evocative objects in the field of antique popular illustration.