'Our Olympic Games: Parliamentary Athletes at Westminster' - Original Illustration for Punch.

Bookseller Notes

Tenniel's original pencil illustration for a satirical cartoon which appeared in Punch in April 1896. For Tenniel, classical games offered rich satirical pickings which resonated with the ideological tone of Punch. He produced several such works, such as "Our Isthmian Games"; or, a "Gladstonian Derby" (May 1873), but the institution of the first modern international Olympic Games (Athens 1896) was particularly good fodder for satirising conflict between the main political parties. Here, in a Roman encampment-cum-Victorian-circus, various games and equipment are inscribed with issues of the day, including India, Surplus, Agriculture. At the centre are the two parliamentary charioteers - Liberal Union and Conservative - about to race.