Engraving

An important depiction of an exhibition sparring match held in Fives Court, in London's Little St. Martin's Street, a tennis and fives court hired for such events. The participants, unlike a regular, bare-knuckle bout, are fitted with gloves ("mittens" or "mufflers"). The contestants shown were Ned Turner, "The Out-and-Outer", who had killed a man in the ring, serving time for manslaughter, and Jack Randall, "The Prime Irish Lad", unbeaten throughout 12 years of ring activity. The two had fought an epic fight in 1818, which Randall won to become the Lightweight champion. A large number of famous pugilists are pictured in the audience, not always accurately (Jem Belcher, the famed champion and the first real sporting celebrity in the modern sense, is shown, although he was dead). A list of famous spectators is included below. Currently hung in a solid black frame.

Charles Turner (1774-1857) was an English mezzotint engraver and draughtsman who specialized in portraiture. He collaborated with J. M. W. Turner (to whom he was not related) on the early plates of the same's Liber Studiorum.

H 9.5 in. x W 11.38 in. x D 1.19 in.

H 7.63 in. x W 9.69 in.