The Easter Hunt at Epping Forest, Plate First
1800–1820
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 15/16 × 12 3/4 in. (22.7 × 32.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.1860
Tags
Art Historical Context
Henry William Bunbury, a celebrated British caricaturist of the late 18th and early 19th, captures the lively chaos of rural recreation in *The Easter Hunt Epping Forest, Plate* (ca. 1800–1820). This hand-colored etching depicts a boisterous hunt in the ancient woodland near London, teeming with horses, carriages, men, women,keys, and even pigs. Bunbury's satirical style pokes gentle fun at the English gentry's enthusiasm for fox hunting, blending exaggerated figures and mishaps to evoke laughter amid the pursuit. As a hand-colored etching, the work exemplifies Regency-era printmaking techniq...