Cooper Jnr, Richard (1740 – 1822) – Italy, Naples, ‘The Cocagna at Naples / Cruel Amusement – Yearly’.

Italy, Naples, 'The Cocagna at Naples / Cruel Amusement - Yearly'. Pencil. c.1771-1775. Inscribed. Signed 'Ric Cooper d' in pencil. Laid paper, applied at the corners to a support sheet of laid paper. Inscribed: 'A most cruel and barbarous amusement. They nail up Geese and other Poultry alive by the wings / spread out so for some days, exposed to the hot sun + then the mob are allowed to rush + seize / what they can - _ - wood and everything goes to the public, and fighting among them'. Provenance: 'The Cooper Album', a bound collection of landscape drawings by Cooper Jnr, probably compiled by a family member late in the artist's life, or perhaps soon after his death. 8x10.5 inches.