Live Auction 5370Christie's Interiors
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)
Lot 505

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)

The spectators

Closed11 November 2008

Price Realised

GBP 500

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William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)
The spectators
pen and brown ink
4¾ x 4½ in. (12.1 x 11.4 cm.); A pencil sketch of four figure studies for Punch magazine; and A pencil sketch of figure studies, both by the same hand (3)

the first with Appleby Brothers Ltd., London.
the second and third Anonymous sale; Christie's London, 30 October 1978, lot 199.

Specialist note

In his early 20s Thackeray studied art in Paris in an attempt to earn a living after squandering his inheritance on gambling and bad investment. In the following years he produced a number of illustrations and caricatures for novels, periodicals and magazines. Eventually he made his name and his fortune as a writer, most notably of the satirical novel Vanity Fair.