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Lot Essay
The collection comprises:
Winter Fashions, 1831, A View in Kensington Gardens
The Present Fashions, Summer 1832
Winter Fashions, 1832, A View at the New Entrance in St James's Park
Summer Fashions, 1833, A View in the Green Park
Winter Fashions, 1833, A View in the Queen's Bazaar
Summer Fashions, 1834, A View in the Surrey Zoological Gardens
Winter Fashions, 1834, A View in the Pantheon
Summer Fashions, 1836, A View in the Colosseum
The Present Fashions, A View in St. James's Park
The Present Fashions, A View in Chesterfield Terrace, Regent's Park
The Present Fashions, A View in the Regent's Park
The Present Fashions, An Interior View in the Pump Room, Bath (B&W)
The Present Fashions, A View in Hyde Park
The Present Fashions, An Interior View of the Colosseum, Regent's Park
Benjamin Read is responsible for one of the most charming, yet least well known, series of decorative English prints. A tailor by trade, his aim in publishing these views was to publicise the designs and patterns he produced. Whereas previous 'fashion plates' tended to show single figures in isolated rather 'wooden' poses, Read advanced the genre by showing groups of figures, in contemporary environments. He also went to great pains to have them laboriously hand-coloured, suggesting fabrics which could be used. As is often the case with ephemera, these prints are exceedingly rare. Those that do survive often have had the lower titles trimmed. Of the forty views currently known, the present group is thought to be the largest and most complete to have come on the market.
Winter Fashions, 1831, A View in Kensington Gardens
The Present Fashions, Summer 1832
Winter Fashions, 1832, A View at the New Entrance in St James's Park
Summer Fashions, 1833, A View in the Green Park
Winter Fashions, 1833, A View in the Queen's Bazaar
Summer Fashions, 1834, A View in the Surrey Zoological Gardens
Winter Fashions, 1834, A View in the Pantheon
Summer Fashions, 1836, A View in the Colosseum
The Present Fashions, A View in St. James's Park
The Present Fashions, A View in Chesterfield Terrace, Regent's Park
The Present Fashions, A View in the Regent's Park
The Present Fashions, An Interior View in the Pump Room, Bath (B&W)
The Present Fashions, A View in Hyde Park
The Present Fashions, An Interior View of the Colosseum, Regent's Park
Benjamin Read is responsible for one of the most charming, yet least well known, series of decorative English prints. A tailor by trade, his aim in publishing these views was to publicise the designs and patterns he produced. Whereas previous 'fashion plates' tended to show single figures in isolated rather 'wooden' poses, Read advanced the genre by showing groups of figures, in contemporary environments. He also went to great pains to have them laboriously hand-coloured, suggesting fabrics which could be used. As is often the case with ephemera, these prints are exceedingly rare. Those that do survive often have had the lower titles trimmed. Of the forty views currently known, the present group is thought to be the largest and most complete to have come on the market.