The Epping Hunt or Hobbies in an Uproar
Cityfolk ride velocipedes to participate in the Epping Hunt. At the front of the pack, a dandy crashes into a woman spectator, followed by a tailor a chimney sweep, a butcher, a man in a smock, and a dustman accompanied by a woman ringing a bell. In the distance, additional figures ride to hounds. Heath devoted a series of satires to velocipedes--foot-propelled bikes popularly known as hobbies--in response to a craze that swept fashionable London in 1819. That year Denis Johnson promoted a British model that he based on an 1817 design developed in Baden by Baron Karl von Drais (called a Laufmachine (running machine) or Draisine). The craze soon subsided as accidents mounted, and high fines were issued to those who rode on sidewalks.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Epping Hunt or Hobbies in an Uproar
- Artist: Possibly by William Heath ('Paul Pry') (British, Northumbria 1794/95–1840 Hampstead)
- Publisher: Thomas Tegg (British, London 1776–1846 London)
- Date: April 4, 1819
- Medium: Hand-colored etching
- Dimensions: Plate: 9 13/16 × 13 11/16 in. (25 × 34.8 cm)
Sheet: 10 9/16 × 15 3/8 in. (26.8 × 39 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, by Exchange, 1970
- Object Number: 1970.541.133
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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