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Satirical etching: Election Compromise or a Cornish Hug in Westminster. Available to view online at The British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum. With grateful thanks to Stephen Curtin for locating it, and bringing to our attention.
A tall, stout fish-wife has seized a fashionably dressed man round the waist and lifted him up; his hat and tasselled cane have fallen to the ground. She is neatly dressed, with a flat hat tied over her cap, a checked apron, clocked stockings, and buckled shoes, but she wears a soldier’s coat over her […]
Attribution and technical note The attribution, medium and probable function of this sheet are as set out in the Wrestling entry (YCBA B2001.2.1289), to which the reader is referred: Charles Turner (1774–1857), watercolour over etched outline, the printed contour supplying the linear armature and hand-applied washes the colour, on paper consistent with early nineteenth-century English […]
Attribution and technical note A preliminary point of attribution is worth making explicit, since the surname invites confusion. This work is by Charles Turner (1774–1857), the Woodstock-born engraver and printmaker elected Associate Engraver of the Royal Academy in 1828, and not by his more celebrated contemporary J. M. W. Turner. The sheet is held by […]
DOWN BUT NOT OUT. Cornish Wrestler: “The beginning of the end: I can’t stick the pace.” The speech-bubble of the stickler reads “One more month….”. An old wrestler labelled ‘Cornish Wrestler’ sits looking tired on the ground, whilst a youthful looking wrestler labelled ‘Modern sport’ stands ready looking down at him. This artefact is a […]
Suggested coat of arms for Cornwall, by Sir Robert Edgcumbe. (Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, vol. 21, 1922-1925).
Created by the British engraver Richard Gilson Reeve. The print commemorates the historic, highly-publicised inter-county wrestling match that took place on October 26, 1826, between the Cornish champion James Polkinghorne and the Devonshire champion Abraham Cann. The event drew over 10,000 spectators and remains one of the most famous encounters in the history of traditional […]
pp. 175 I mentioned before, how much I suspected a cove which had ftood near the manor-house in the north-west part of the knoll : this I would have dedicated to the element of Water, or particularly to the river flowing by, the Isca which I have shewn to be its Celtic name : and […]
A video dated to 1925, covering Cornish wrestling championships at Ludgvan. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. (1925). Cornish wrestling championships at Ludgvan. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4ac050f0-c61a-012f-d026-58d385a7bc34
[WRESTLING]. Pair of Hand-Colored Portraits of Famous British Wrestlers who Faced Each Other in the Ring. Including: [CANN, Abraham, subject]. “The Wrestling Champion of England, Abraham Cann. Who challenges all the World for 100 Sovereigns…” [Exeter: Geo. Rowe, Aug. 10th, 1826]. Hand-colored full-length portrait of Cann in profile outdoors, with caption. 12 ¾ x 9”. […]
Portrait of Abraham Cann, whole length, standing outdoors, directed slightly to left, making wrestling moves; wearing half-open jacket fastened with strings, breeches and stockings; top hat lying on the ground at his foot at left. Lithograph Printed by: Thomas Bayly Published by: J Penny Published by: John Dickinson – https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0612-1077 Inscription content: Lettered below image with the […]
Portrait of the famous wrestler Abraham Cann in 1864. Now in the public domain. Illustrated Sporting News and Theatrical and Musical Review – Saturday 07 May 1864, Page 4.
An etching held at the British Museum (id: 1849,0210.107): Two young man playing fencing; illustration to ‘The Sporting Magazine’ vol.35. 1810. Etching and engraving © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
An etching found in the British Museum (id: 1873,1108.218): Village scene, with two men standing on a square at centre, wrestling with their right arms, keeping their left arms behind their backs, surrounded by spectators; three men and a dog seated on the ground in foreground at left, next to a barrel and basket, and […]
Lithograph in the British Museum (1943,0410.2111), by Maxim Gauci: Portrait of James Polkinhorn; whole length, standing in three-quarter profile to right, leaning slightly forward, with arms folded, his left foot placed in front, wearing short jacket fastened with cord; impression had been folded for posting. 1826 Lithograph on chine collé © The Trustees of the […]
Although listed variously as ‘A Cornish wrestling match’, ‘Two Cornish men wrestling’ et al., this artefact produced by Cruikshank clearly depicts Moor-men (wrestlers from Dartmoor) who were known to wear Red/Green and Black Cockerels/Lions on their backs*. The pictures also show wrestlers wearing skillibegs (‘shin-padding’) and shoes, distinctive equipment of the Devon style. Credit to […]
A woodcut by George Cruikshank, currently held in the British Museum (id: 1978,U.3287). It bears the label: Two Cornish men wrestling, a large crowd of rustic men gathered around the ring and watching with interest, some seated on a bench, flags flying from the covered stand behind; a version of the etching; illustration to the […]
A ‘Devon and Cornwall’ wrestling tournament at Hackney in London, reported in the Illustrated Sporting News of 1866.
John Slade, Champion Wrestler (Devon and Cornwall). Featured in The Illustrated Sporting News. Engraved by Moore V. Williamson. Original page in the archives of DWS.
Backswording by Richard Doyle (1824-83). Wood-engraving, 2 1/2 x 4 3/8 inches (on 4 1/8 x 7 1/8 inch page). 1859. W. J. Linton, Engraver. Facing p. 146, Hughes’s The Scouring of the White Horse. Image scan and text by George P. Landow. Available to access online thanks to George P. Landow, via VictorianWeb.
From the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, July 8th, 1876. Drawing called “Devon Wrestling- “No Doubt About It.” Illustrated by Alfred Concanen.
Appearing in The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, pp.65. Illustrated by Alfred Concanen.
An original pen-and-ink sketch by Alfred Concanen, featured on pagee 236 of The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News (5 June 1875).
An oil painting on canvas, attributed to Henry Caunter (1808-1881). The painting was purchased by RAMM (Royal Albert Memorial Museum. Item no.: 12/1959) in 1959, added to the museum collection where it still resides. This photo was taken by the DWS at the last public display of the painting in April 2022, at RAMM, Exeter. […]
An illustration by Thomas Rowlandson (London 1756-1827) ‘A Cornish wrestling match’ – bears indistinct inscription (lower centre), pen and ink and watercolour on paper laid down on card 18.2 x 30.6cm (7 3/16 x 12 1/16in). Sold at Bonhams for £1,062.50 inc. premium: 26 July 2017, 10:00 BST, London, Knightsbridge Available online: https://www.bonhams.com/auction/24193/lot/552/thomas-rowlandson-london-1756-1827-a-cornish-wrestling-match/