A sporting print is a printed image depicting a field or competitive sport, such as fox hunting, horse racing, shooting, coursing, fishing, coaching, cricket or boxing. Most were produced in Britain from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century, often after paintings by well-known sporting artists, and were sold singly or in sets to an enthusiastic country and city audience.
The finest sporting prints were made as aquatints, engravings and later lithographs, and were frequently hand-coloured by teams of colourists. Artists whose work was widely reproduced include George Stubbs, Henry Alken and James Pollard, and London publishers such as Rudolph Ackermann issued large numbers of hunting and coaching scenes. Prints were often published in series showing the successive stages of a hunt or a steeplechase. Value depends on the rarity of the subject, the quality of impression and colouring, the presence of good margins and the original publication lines, and condition, since foxing, fading and trimming are common. Later reprints and photographic reproductions are plentiful, so careful inspection is needed. Framed in sets, sporting prints remain a classic choice for halls, studies, boot rooms and country dining rooms.
