1784–1851
Henry Alken was an English painter, engraver, and illustrator, best remembered for his lively depictions of sporting subjects and humorous scenes of 19th-century English life.
Born on 12 October 1784 in Soho, London, he was the son of the painter Samuel Alken. Growing up in a family of artists, Henry trained in drawing and engraving from an early age. His first works appeared around 1801, but he initially worked under the pseudonym Ben Tally-Ho, producing satirical prints that revealed his sharp sense of humor.
By the 1810s, Alken had established himself as a prolific illustrator of hunting, coaching, racing, and other sporting pursuits, gaining recognition for his ability to combine accurate observation with wit. His paintings and engravings often portrayed both the elegance and the comedy of the sporting world, showing gentlemen riders, hounds, and horses in dynamic motion or awkward mishaps.
Alken contributed illustrations to popular sporting publications of the time, including The Sporting Magazine, and produced a number of series such as Humorous Specimens of Riding, Symptoms of Being Amused, and Ideas, Accidental and Incidental to Hunting and Other Sports. His works were engraved and widely circulated, making him one of the most familiar visual chroniclers of Regency sporting culture.
He lived for much of his later life in London, continuing to paint and engrave until his death on 7 April 1851. Today, Alken’s works are valued not only for their artistic merit but also as a vivid window into the social and sporting life of early 19th-century England.
