Not currently on display at the V&A

Poster

ca.1845 (printed)
Artist/Maker
J. W. Peel (printers (people))
Place of origin
London (printed)

This is the circus of Edwin Hughes who boasted a 'Grand Oriental Equestrian Establishment' which toured to Hastings and Derby in 1845 and Limerick and Birmingham in 1847. Hughes also had a season at Drury Lane in 1847 where Queen Victoria came to see the circus. In the same year his stables at St Austell caught fire from a candle falling on the straw, and his valuable mare, Victoria, was badly burnt. At the end of his 1847 season he disposed of his equestrian and zoological stock. He is reputed to have made £20,000 from his circus enterprises when he retired, and to have made another fortune as a banker. He died in Surrey in 1867 but is buried in Liverpool.

This poster is beautifully illustrated with woodcut images, and is specially designed for a tour since a space has been left blank in which to insert the name of the town to be visited.

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Object details

Categories
Entertainment & Leisure
Advertising
Posters
Circus
Object type
Poster
Materials and techniques
Woodcut and letterpress on paper
Ink
Paper
Wood-Cutting
Letterpress Printing
Brief description
Tour poster advertising the 'Great Mammoth Procession' of Hughes' Circus. Woodcut and letterpress, printed by J.W. Peel, London, ca.1845
Physical description
Poster featuring woodcut illustrations of circus acts and the Hughes' mammoth circus parade in roundels with botanically-styled illustrated borders. The blue and red typeface in the central panel describes the procession and its components. The illustrations include equestrian and acrobatic acts, and the elephant-drawn the Burmese Rathi ceremonial waggons.
Dimensions
  • Height: 75cm
  • Width: 33.4cm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • HUGHES' / GREAT MAMMOTH / ESTABLISHMENT, / With the First Continental TALENT, / INCLUDING / ITALIAN, FRENCH & BRITISH / MALE AND FEMALE ARTISTES, / Will Perform at... / First Performance will commence at 2 o'clock, the second at 7. / PRICES OF ADMISSION, First Boxes 2s. Second ditto 1s.6. Arena 1s. Children 1s. to (This magnificently illustrated poster was designed to Hughes's circus, or 'Mammoth Equestrian Establishment' on tour, with a space left to inscribe the name of the town it was visiting. It is undated, but it would date from about 1845 when Hughes was mounting a particularly impressive parade with fifty horses, of which fourteen are illustrated being driven 'in hand', the Sacred Egyptian Dragon Chariot pulled by four camels, and the Burmese Imperial Carriage and throne pulled by two elephants. These had been designed by William Wallett, the Shakespearean jester who had some experience as an artist and carver and had worked with Maffey the French mnarionette showman, and later with Calver. Hughes thought that they were 'the first and best ornamental carriages that ever travelled with circus tents'. The Egyptian Dragon Chariot cost £750, an huge sum in those days.)
  • THE GREAT MAMMOTH / PROCESSION / WILL ENTER THE TOWN AT 11 O'CLOCK, / Which will be signalled by hoisting the BRITISH ROYAL STANDARD at the / PAVILION, when the Nobility, Gentry, and Public in general will have an oppor- / tunity of witnessing one of the most / COSTLY & MAGNIFICENT CAVALCADES / EVER EXHIBITED IN EUROPE, HEADED BY / THE RATH / Or Burmese Imperial State Carriage & Throne, DRAWN BY THE ROYAL MALE AND FEMALE / ELEPHANTS! / The Celebrated BAND of the Establishment in a most Splendid Carriage, upon the Ornaments of which the first Heraldry ARtists were employed by Messrs. BOA... and / HARTLEY.-This Carriage will be Drawn by / 14 HORSES DRIVEN IN HAND, / AND WILL BE FOLLOWED BY / THREE OTHER CARRIAGES / ALL FINISHED IN THE SAME COSTLY STYLE, AND / EVERY HORSE IN ROYAL STATE HARNESS! / NEXT WILL FOLLOW THOSE PRODIGIES OF ANIMALS, THE / SPLENDID BLACK ARAB "BEDA," / AND THE / Graceful & highly-trained Mare VICTORIA / Both in Sumptuous Trappings; after which will follow the Junvenisles of the Troop. mounted on their / FANCY PALFREYS AND PIGMY PONIES / The Cavalcade will be brought to a clsoe by the / PRINCIPAL ITALIAN, FRENCH, AND BRITISH / MALE & FEMALE ARTISTES, / MOUNTED ON THEIR TRAINED CHARGERS
  • STEAM PRESS-J. W. PEEL, 74, NEW CUT, LAMBETH, LONDON.
Gallery label
Poster for Hughes’s Circus on tour. About 1845 Woodcut and letterpress Museum no. S.3776-1995
Summary
This is the circus of Edwin Hughes who boasted a 'Grand Oriental Equestrian Establishment' which toured to Hastings and Derby in 1845 and Limerick and Birmingham in 1847. Hughes also had a season at Drury Lane in 1847 where Queen Victoria came to see the circus. In the same year his stables at St Austell caught fire from a candle falling on the straw, and his valuable mare, Victoria, was badly burnt. At the end of his 1847 season he disposed of his equestrian and zoological stock. He is reputed to have made £20,000 from his circus enterprises when he retired, and to have made another fortune as a banker. He died in Surrey in 1867 but is buried in Liverpool.

This poster is beautifully illustrated with woodcut images, and is specially designed for a tour since a space has been left blank in which to insert the name of the town to be visited.
Other number
PPUK Number: 699
Collection
Theatre and Performance Collection
Accession number
S.3776-1995

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Record createdJune 30, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O158272/poster-j-w-peel/
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