Angels On Horseback

Thelwell really understood the English countryside, its animals and people, and can appraise with sympathetic eye both horses and the horsey. That is why his drawings adorn the studies of some of the finest equestrians in the country as well as being sure pin-up material in many Pony Club Members dens. The angels in Angels on Horseback are children, but there is plenty here about their parents. Both for readers of Punch who know Thelwell, and those who have not met him before, this book is a savoury at all times but especially after attending a gymkhana. J.B. Boothroyd writes in his Foreword: Punch has had equestrian artists before. In mid-Victorian times it was difficult to open a copy without being trampled. But the creations between the present covers achieve something entirely new: they combine portraiture with caricature, a thing which most artists would hesitate to try with human beings, let alone the more temperamentally elusive and psychologically inscrutable horse. This means that while no horse could possible look exactly like a Thelwell horse, all Thelwell horses manage to look exactly like horses.