Poster — Printer's proof of circus posters advertising equestrian performers, Plymouth, ca.1890
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
ca.1890
Poster in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number S.3793-1995), made in Plymouth, dated ca.1890, attributed to Creber, Theophilus. The museum's brief description reads: Printer's proof of pictorial circus posters advertising three equestrian acts.
Colour lithograph by Theophilus Creber, Plymouth, ca.1890. Museum description: Pictorial poster featuring images of three equestrian circus acts in three panes; a female equestrienne standing on a cantering piebald horse (left); a balancing act performed by an equestrian riding two in hand standing astride two greys, balancing his partner on his raised left arm (centre), and a jockey equestrian standing on a cantering horse, right.
Printed in red, blue, yellow and brown on white paper with the artist's palette of Creber's logo bottom right. The museum records it as Printing ink on paper, measuring Height 52 cm; Width 76 cm. These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
Brightly coloured lithographic posters were all the rage for advertising towards the end of the 19th century. This poster was printed by the Devon printer and engraver Theophilus Creber (1845-1902) based in Plymouth's Union Street, who called himself a 'show printer'. He was obviously a serious fan of entertainment since he became proprietor of the Olympia Theatre Plymouth in 1887, reopening it as a Theatre of Varieties in 1887; of Fred Ginster's Circus that he sold in 1898, and of The Theatre Royal Eastbourne that he refurbished and reopened in 1898. This was probably not printed as one poster, or to advertise a specific circus, but as an example of Creber's work for orders. Circus was hugely popular in the 19th century, and almost all would have included equestrian performance. A circus proprietor would probably have ordered one or more of these images, each of which bears Creber's artist's palette and paint-brush logo with his trade name 'Litho Creber Plymouth'. Details of specific circuses would then have been overprinted.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- paper, printing ink
- Dimensions
- Height 52 cm; Width 76 cm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Printing ink on paper
- Maker recorded
- Creber, Theophilus
- Place recorded
- Plymouth
Identification
- Museum object name
- Poster
- Museum object number
- S.3793-1995
- Museum system number
- O1612895
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and catalogue references against a specialist reference.