The Epping Hunt or Hobbies in an Uproar

Possibly by William Heath ('Paul Pry') British

Publisher Thomas Tegg British

April 4, 1819

Not on view

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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