by Austin Sprake:
A penny-farthing race with a large line of spectators in the background. The axles, shafts and saddles are in black.
Sprake also noted his STG176a as being:-'The same picture, except that the axle shafts and saddles are in golden yellow and the riders' clothing is in different colours to STG176.
[It should be noted that this silk has been seen in different colours, so Sprake's STG176a is not considered to be a different silk, only a variation.]
by Geoffrey Godden:
This title is found in two distinct variations - the first with penny-farthing type bicycles [that is, this silk] and the second, designated 40a, with more modern safety bicycles having wheels of equal diameter [see st408 on this site].
The first landscape view is a charming composition showing five cyclists engaged in a sedate race, the riders seemingly dressed in jockey-type racing colours. A crowd is seen in the background, behind a rail with an indicator board in the centre.
The title was first listed on label 5, bearing the registration device as granted on 31 October 1879, and it is included on subsequent labels up to 19. It is not listed on label 19a (a copy of which is dated 1881), or on labels following progressively to 23+31c. The early examples are affixed to type B card-mounts, sometimes of type B1, with the impressed diamond-shaped registration mark in the top right-hand corner.
Other comments:
Design registered 31st October 1879
