1872 – Jack The Bear

“Jack the Bear” comes to us as a full page illustration from “Chatterbox”. The image is signed and dated 1872. The image has plenty of fine detail and enlarges well. The story behind the bear is even more interesting. The bear cub arrived at the London docks and was to be met by Harrison Weir, who was to escort the bear, in its crate, to an exhibition at The Crystal Palace. Upon arriving at the docks, Weir discovered the bear cub had escaped from his crate and was running around on deck with the sailors having difficulty coaxing him back to his pen. Weir, ever prepared had sugar cubes in his pocket and offered some to the cub, who followed him willingly back to the crate for more. Weir then accompanied the crate to the Crystal Palace. This same bear was later delivered to the Zoological Gardens where he was seen more many years climbing a large pole in the bear pit.  This image is currently available in A4, A3 and A2 sizing options.