Spanish Lancers at the Charge, Villegas, Hand Colored Lithograph, 1861

An original hand colored lithograph of two Spanish lancers at the gallop, drawn on the stone and lithographed by Villegas and printed in Madrid in 1861. The lower margin is lettered "Villegas dibujó y litografió" at left and "Lit. Militar S. Bernardino 7. Madrid" at right, and the artist's signature appears again within the image at lower left.

On the left a lancer on a bay horse rides with his lance held upright, its blue and white pennon streaming behind him. He wears a crested helmet with a black plume, a dark blue coat with red facings and epaulettes, red trousers and boots, with his saber at his side. On the right a second lancer on a gray horse charges with his lance couched, its red pennon flying forward past the horse's head; he wears a blue jacket with red trim, red trousers and a tall cap with a red plume and cords. Both horses are shown at full stretch over a dusty plain, with tufts of grass and scattered stones in the foreground.

The plate belongs to the Album de la Caballería Española, the illustrated history of the Spanish cavalry compiled by Serafín María de Sotto, Count of Clonard, and published in Madrid in 1861 with hand colored lithographs drawn by Villegas and printed at the military lithographic press in the Calle de San Bernardino. The album follows the mounted arm of Spain from its earliest days to the reign of Isabel II, showing troopers and officers in the dress, arms and horse furniture of their regiments.

The coloring is applied by hand in watercolor over the printed image, with the reds and blues of the uniforms and pennons set against the pale ground, and the scene is enclosed in a ruled frame with rounded corners. The two charging horses make this one of the livelier subjects of the series, and plates from the album are far scarcer than French and German costume prints of the same years.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.