Prints after William Henry Hunt Watercolors, Up in the Clouds and Down in the Dumps

These prints were published by Pears Soap in England in 1903 as premiums which were given away when one subscribed to the Pears' Annual. Pears Soap, a major brand in the United Kingdom since the 19th Century, was famous for its popular prints. The company actually bought original artwork to be published as prints in huge editions, many of which graced the walls of middle class homes all over Britain.

The original watercolors by William Henry Hunt show his favorite model. John Swain, in two of his last appearances in Hunt's work -- he was becoming too old to model for Hunt's famous series of boys in comic situations. Swain first appeared in watercolors painted by Hunt at Hastings, on the south coast of England, in 1830. These pendant paintings show Swain smoking a cigar - originally entitled The Aspirant when exhibited at the 1844 Spring Exhibition of the Society of Painters in Water-Colours, and then showing ill effects from his introduction to tobacco, originally entitled, "Done up." The originals were both engraved for inclusion in Hunt's Comic Sketches and eventually became known by the titles "Up in the Clouds" and "Down in the Dumps." The location of the original watercolors has been untraced since 1914.