Pen and ink illustration created for publication in an illustrated newspaper or magazine, probably The Penny Illustrated Press. The sketch has been signed and dated by the artist F.V.Poole in the bottom right hand corner.
The illustration shows a series of scenes from a spectacular production at The Hippodrome in 1903. Amongst the performers are 'The Plunging Elephants', 'Albert Crandall with his mule "Thunderbolt", and performers from what appears to be a pantomime with a Silver Prince (Miss Chattell) and a Golden Princess (Miss Hett).
Mr. Albert Crandall, described in publicity material as 'the inimitable peer of comic riders', was an equestrian clown who performed with his mule "Thunderbolt." He was part of Ringling Brother's Circus (founded in the United States in 1884).
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The London Hippodrome was built in 1900 by Frank Matcham for Edward Moss for £250,000 as a hippodrome for circus and variety performances. The shows included equestrian acts, elephants and polar bears, and acrobats would dive from a Minstrel Gallery above a sliding roof, in the centre of the proscenium arch. The performance space featured both a proscenium stage and an arena that sank into a 230 ft, 100,000 gallon water tank (400 ton, when full) for aquatic spectacles. In productions such as that shown in this illustration, elephants were led up ramps from the Elephant Run below the stage and then slid down a slide into the Hippodrome's vast water tank.
This item is one of several theatrical drawings from a collection of sketches commissioned from contemporary artists to be printed in illustrated magazines. The collection was donated to the museum by Sir William James Ingram in 1914.
