The western prospect of Bears-Den Hall in Co. Surrey [graphic].

Description

Creator

Reisen, Charles Christian, 1680-1725, printmaker

Contributor

Vertue, George, 1684-1756, attributed name.

Published / Created

[approximately 1720]

Publication Place

London

Publisher

publisher not identified

Abstract

View of a house supposedly near Putney Common, satirically called 'Bear's Den Hall', a rickety house with cracked plaster walls and a chimney-stack with broken brick, and with weeds growing from the cracks and on the roof. A key at the top references many of the features of the scene, including a bear is chained by the front door (B) at the left, birds in flight (K). The property is separated from the road in the foreground by a wicket fence, with a satircial armorial crest along the lower edge with portraits of Charles Christian and Skelton

Satire on social pretensions: a view of a dilapidated cottage set into a garden behind a wooden fence, with a mock coat-of-arms at the bottom.--From variant state in the British Museum online catalogue

Description

Title etched at top of image.
Printmaker identified as Charles Christian Reisen in the British Museum online catalogue. An alternative attribution to George Vertue derives from a contemporary marginal note on an impression in the Royal Collection (RCIN 701972).
Early state, before Greek motto added at bottom of image. For a later state with this added text, see no. 1695 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum, v. 2.
Approximate date of publication from description of a later state in the British Museum catalogue.
Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
"This cottage was the country residence on Putney Heath of C. C. Reisen, seal engraver and painter, and Skelton, upholsterer, and kept at their joint expense"--Curator's comments, British Museum online catalogue (registration no.: 1847,0713.15).
"The print is not a satire, but rather a jokey plate made for private distribution to friends"--Curator's comments, British Museum online catalogue (registration no.: 1866,1110.1468).

Provenance