Alfred Hunt and Joseph Swain - The Mistletoe Bough The Illustrated London News Christmas Supplement

The Mistletoe Bough (The Illustrated London News, Christmas Supplement)

Alfred Hunt's, original wood engraving, The Mistletoe Bough was engraved in 1886 by Joseph Swain's firm for The Illustrated London News, Christmas Supplement. It is printed on mid nineteenth century wove paper and with full margins and bears the engraver's name 'Swain' within the image. It also contains the title, a christmas verse and the name of the artist "A. Hunt" in the lower margin. The Mistletoe Bough (The Illustrated London News, Christmas Supplement) depicts an exterior scene with a woman standing by a tree while a young boy on top of one of the branches cuts off a mistletoe for her. The verse is included below. This original wood engraving is a fine, example of the art created by the British artists, Alfred Hunt, Joseph Swain and the Victorian Christmas art published by The Illustrated London News.


The Mistletoe Bough (The Illustrated London News, Christmas Supplement)
Oh what would Christmas be Without its Mistletoe? Young folk, at least agree Things would be rather slow; Then pluck it from its parent tree. To heighten more our Christmas glee	Ah ha, young lady! We have caught you in the act. I hope your sprays will be arranged with woman's tact; for other placed quite plain to see, But in some nook for you and me.

View other wood engraving designed by Alfred Hunt.

Alfred Hunt (English, active, 1853-1886)
#	Image	Title & Artist	Medium	Date	Notes	-
01-		Little Willie's Christmas Greetings by Alfred Hunt commissioned for Frank Leslie's, Illustrated Newspaper, N. Y. (Holiday Supplement)	Original Wood Engraving	Dec. 29, 1877	Frank Leslie's, Illustrated Newspaper, N. Y. (Holiday Supplement)
02.-		The Mistletoe Bough by Alfred Hunt commissioned for The Illustrated London News (Christmas Supplement)	Original Wood Engraving with Hand-Colouring	Jan. 12, 1887	The Illustrated London News (Christmas Supplement)

View Other Original Wood Engraving Published for The Illustrated London News.

The Illustrated London News
#	Image	Artist, Title, Description	Medium	Date	Source	-
01.-		A Christmas Carol by Halbot Knight Browne (Phiz) printed by the Leighton Brothers, London for The Illustrated London News (Christmas Supplement)	Original Wood Engraving Printed in Colour	1861	The Illustrated London News (Christmas Supplement)	Sold
02.-		The Cotter's Child printed by the Leighton Brothers London for The Illustrated London News	Original Wood Engraving Printed in Colour	1886	The Illustrated London News
03.-		The Mistletoe Bough by Alfred Hunt commissioned for The Illustrated London News (Christmas Supplement)	Original Wood Engraving with Hand-Colouring	Jan. 12, 1887	The Illustrated London News (Christmas Supplement)
04.-		The Volunteer Sham Fight At Brighton on Easter Monday, Lord Ranelagh Passing the Grand Stand printed by the Leighton Brothers, London for The Illustrated London News	Original Wood Engraving with Hand-Colouring	1855	The Illustrated London News

View Other Original Wood Engraving Published by Various Other Periodicals.

Collection of Miscellaneous 19th Century Periodicals (Americana Events)
01.-	Periodicals: Americana Events, Activities & Professions (Original Engravings 1870 to 1900, Prints Priced under $100.00)	Original Wood Engravings	c. 1870-1900	Various Periodicals
Collection of Miscellaneous 19th Century Periodicals (Americana Views)
01.-	Periodicals: American Views (Original Engravings 1870 to 1900, Prints Priced under $100.00)	Original Wood Engravings	c. 1870-1900	Various Periodicals
Collection of Miscellaneous 19th Century Periodicals (Holidays)
01.-	Periodicals: Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, Valentines (Original Engravings 1870 to 1900, Prints Priced under $100.00)	Original Wood Engravings	c. 1870-1900	Various Periodicals

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Title:	The Mistletoe Bough (The Illustrated London News, Christmas Supplement)
Engraver	Firm of Joseph Swain (Oxford, 1820 - Ealing, 1908)
Artist:	Hunt, Alfred 'A. Hunt' (English, active, 1853-1886)
Publisher:	The Illustrated London News
Printer:	George C. Leighton, 198 Strand
Date:	1886
Medium:	Original Wood Engraving with Hand-Colouring
	Alfred Hunt (London, active, 1853-1886): A fine Victorian illustrator, painter and watercolor artist, Alfred Hunt first began his career as an illustrator often receiving commissions from important 19th century periodicals. They covered, literature, arts, sciences, sports, social and political events, fashion, and fiction. This original Alfred Hunt illustration entitled, The Mistletoe Bough appeared in a Christmas Supplement for The Illustrated London News in 1886. Hunt's Hark the Herald Angels Sing is another example of the illustrations engraved by the Illman brothers in 1881 for Peterson's Magazine (1842-1898). Little Willie's Christmas Greetings is a fine, original example of the illustrated published in 'Frank Leslie's, Holiday Supplement, Illustrated Newspaper', New York in 1877. The Penny Illustrated Paper, published a 'Merry Christmas Number' (Saturday Dec 15 1883), which included special Christmas Illustrations by Alfred Hunt, Matt Stretch, Harry Furniss, M. Trautschold, Thomas Robins and others. However, the bulk of Alfred Hunt's Illustrated art was published by 'The Illustrated London News', between 1853 and 1886. Alfred Hunt created works of art dealing with a variety of subjects for the this British periodical, also known as 'ILN', such as, The Tidal Steam Packet Arriving at Boulogne, (1853), and A Garden Party at Holland House, (1872), the large four-page engraving of Epsom Downs - The Derby Day (1863), included his full name (Alfred Hunt), within the lower left margin of the wood engraving. Easter Monday (1862) and St. Valentines Day (1863) were among the general subjects he produced for that journal. 'The Illustrated London Almanack', contained works illustrated by Alfred Hunt, it posted an advertisement for three pictures of country life from paintings by Alfred Hunt that would appear in (1869),The following year, they published Country Children (1870), and a few years later, The Return of the Swallows to Their Nests Heralds the Coming Summer was published in (1875). Many of William Hunt's Christmas illustrations appeared in 'The Illustrated London News, Christmas Supplements'. The following selection of wood engravings were created by Hunt for these special 'Christmas Supplements' dating from 1860 to 1886, Home for Christmas Holidays (1860), Christmas Mummers (1861), The Village Choir (1863), A Visit to the Old Folk Christmas Eve (1864), (this one contains Alfred Hunt's full name below the image), Christmas Time (1867), and First Second Floors (1867), Granvale Church (1869), (It also contain Alfred Hunt' full name below the image), A Merry Christmas to You (1870), Hoisting the Union Jack (1876), Procession of the Holy Thorn, (1872), Bringing Home the Christmas Tree (1882), Christmas Bell-Ringers (1883). And, The Mistletoe Bough (1886), a fine, original example of the illustrated art created by the British artist, Alfred Hunt and the wood engraving of Joseph Swain created for the 'Christmas Supplement to The Illustrated London News', New York in 1886.
	The selection of works listed above establishes Alfred Hunt's artistic career as an illustrator, but we have yet to confirm his date and place of birth. There appears to be at least three different artists working under that name of 'Alfred Hunt' during that time period. It has been suggested that Alfred Hunt could actually be Alfred William Hunt (1830-1896), an accomplished painter and watercolor artist of landscapes. An obituary for Alfred William Hunt (1830-1896), appeared in the Illustrated London News (May 16, 1896). It contains a brief biography for this artist but no mention of any work in illustration. However, The Van Gogh Museum 'Vincent van Gogh, The Letters', lists two works by Alfred William Hunt, published by the Illustrated London News, Procession of the Holy Thorn, (December 21, 1872) and A Procession of Monks in the Snow (September 29, 1872). There is also another engraving entitled, Scene of the railway accident at Chester - the Dee Viaduct' printed for the illustrated London News (1847), that contains the text; "after an original drawing by A. W. Hunt of Liverpool. May 24, 1847". The book entitled, "Mopsa the Fairy", by Jean Ingelow (c. 1880) contains wood engravings by the Dalziel Brothers after illustrations created by Alfred W. Hunt, Jessie MacGregor and others. Although, those examples seem to link the two artists as the same person, I feel there is (no), resemblance in their art style or subjects, and no information suggesting Alfred William Hunt was a major illustrator for periodicals or journals. Alfred Hunt was quite a popular name at the time, so we have included two other English artists in this analysis. Arthur Ackland Hunt (English,1841-1914), was a fine landscape painter, but like Alfred William Hunt, his style is very different and further research is needed before coming to any conclusions. And our last case is Alfred Hunt (died, 1917), a stained glass artist and illustrator, working in London who ran a stained glass and decorating business in the south of England. This Alfred Hunt worked under Henry Holiday (the illustrator for Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark"), at the firm of Heaton, Butler & Bayne, Garrick Street, Covent Garden, London. They were a Lancaster firm of craftsmen dealing in stained glass windows and church decorations. In the 1860's the firm became known as Shrigley and Hunt, Castle Hill, Lancaster, an English firm which produced high quality stained glass windows and art tiles. Their work can be found in many churches in the north-west england. Unfortunately, most of their records were lost in a fire so little information concerning that Alfred Hunt is available. For the moment, we are left with four English artists by the name of Alfred Hunt working within the same time period in three completely different styles.
	Swain, Joseph (Oxford, 1820 - Ealing, 1908): Joseph Swain was one of the finest English wood engravers of his time. He established a large wood engraving workshop around 1845 where he engraved his own blocks and employed many assistants to execute works under his supervision and name. Many of the blocks engraved at his firm bear the 'Swain' signature, for this reason, it is important to consult the authoritative records in order to confirm the validity of the engraver. William Harcourt Hooper (1834-1912), a notable British artist, started his career working with Joseph Swain. Commissions for Swain's services were abundant, ranging from major British periodicals, journals, magazines, to smaller commercial firms and private sources. Engraving from Swain's firm appeared in such great publications as 'Punch Magazine' (1841-1992), established by Henry Mayhew (1812-1887), Ebenezer Landells ( (1808-1860), Mark Lemon (1809-1870) and Douglas Jerrold (1803-1857) and John Leech (1817-1864). Punch sold a year later (1842), to William Bradbury (1800-1889), and Frederick Mullet (1803-1870), of the Bradbury and Evans firm. Others include the 'Cornhill Magazine' (1859-1975), established by George Murray Smith (1824-1901 ), the 'Once a Week' (1859-1880), established by the Bradbury and Evans and publishers of 'Punch', 'Good Words' (1860-1906), established by Alexander Strahan (c. 1835-1918), the Religious Tract Society (1799-1935), a publishing firm founded by David Bogue, Robert Hawker Joseph Hughes and Joseph Reyner, publishers of Christian literature. British engravers working for 'The Illustrated London News' included such famous artists as Joseph Swain, William James Palmer (fl 1858-1896), Thomas Bolton Dalziel (1823-1906), William Biscombe Gardner (1847-1919), Ebenezer Landells( (1808-1860) and others.
	Joseph Swain created wood engravings after designs by some of the most distinguished English artists of the times, such as Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896), In 1848, Millais joined Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti to form arguably the most influential British art movement of the nineteenth century -- the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Examples of John Everett Millais illustrations engraved by Joseph Swain include, Swing Song (1861),The Anglers of the Dove (1862), a group of wood engravings accompanied a serialized story by Harriet Martineau. These illustrations appeared in the periodical 'Once a Week'. Irene (1862), published in the 'Cornhill Magazine'. Another artist that worked closely with Swain was the English illustrator, Sir John Tenniel (London, 1820 - 1914), a premier Victorian era illustrator and cartoonist and a major contributor to Punch Magazine. Joseph Swain was also employed by Punch from (1844 to 1900) where he eventually became the head of the engraving department in that firm. John Tenniel's name will always be linked to two of the finest illustrated books of any era; Lewis Carroll's, Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1872). A large majority of the designs for those two books were engraved by Joseph Swain. Other British artists who commissioned Joseph Swain to engrave works after their designs include, Lord Frederick Sandys (1832-1904), Amor Mundi (1865), it appeared in 'Shilling Magazine' opposite a poem of the same title by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), Richard Doyle (1824-1883) , Richard Ansdell (Liverpool, 1815 - London, 1855), Fred Walker (1840-1875), Sir Samuel Luke Fildes (Liverpool, 1843- Kensington, 1927), Alfred Hunt and others. The Mistletoe Bough by Alfred Hunt was commissioned for the (Christmas Supplement issued by The Illustrated London News in 1877. It depicts an exterior scene. a woman standing by a tree while a young boy on one of the branches cuts off a mistletoe for her.
	The Illustrated London News: Established by Herbert Ingram (1811-1860), the "Illustrated London News" published its initial number in 1842 and continued well into the twentieth century. This British publication is considered one of the primary originators of pictorial journalism. Throughout its life, skilled artists maintained a very high level of craftsmanship in their illustrative art, and for well over one hundred years, these original engravings have attracted serious collectors who recognize both the historic and artistic value of these images. In fact, one of the first avid collectors of these engravings was Vincent Van Gogh, who, for several years, entertained thoughts of working as an illustrative artist for the publication. As mentioned earlier, British engravers working for 'The Illustrated London News' included such famous artists as, Joseph Swain (1820-1909), William James Palmer (fl 1858-1896), Thomas Bolton Dalziel (1823-1906), William Biscombe Gardner (1847-1919), Ebenezer Landells (1808-1860), William James Linton (1812-1887), and many others.
	Wood engraving (invented around 1780) at last made it possible for publishers to print images and words on the same page without the extravagant costs of producing etchings or engravings from metal plates. From the birth of the "Illustrated London News", engraving upon wood rapidly emerged as the major medium for distributing pictorial images and continued strongly in this role until the practical application of photomechanical methods around the end of the nineteenth century. During the second half of the nineteenth century, periodicals, journals and magazines such as 'Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper', 'Every Saturday', 'The Aldine' and 'Harper's Weekly', in the United States, and 'The Illustrated London News', 'The Illustrated London Almanack', and 'The Graphic', in England, created pictorial journalism on a grand scale.
Size:	16 X 10 1/2 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	UnMatted
Buy Now	Price: $95.00 US
Condition:	Printed on mid nineteenth century wove paper and with full margins as published in 1886. Bearing the engraver's name 'Swain' within the image. The Mistletoe Bough, (The Illustrated London News, Christmas Supplement) is in good condition throughout. This original wood engraving is a fine, example of the art if Alfred Hunt, Joseph Swain and the Victorian Christmas art published by The Illustrated London News.
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Alfred Hunt & Joseph Swain

The Mistletoe Bough (The Illustrated London News, Christmas Supplement)