by Austin Sprake:
A flat racing scene. The silk is found in several sizes, likewise the mount, but the usual version is sz 1 (approximately 8" by 5"). Sometimes found in calendar form.
by Geoffrey Godden:
This lively landscape picture, companion to THE FINISH (also titled THE STRUGGLE) [see st192 and st568 respectively on this site], depicts the start of a horse race with seven horses travelling from left to right.
THE START, which was registered on 15 December 1879 and whose title first appears on label 7, proved very popular and was issued into the early years of the twentieth century - although the later examples, on type C or E card-mounts, are rare in comparison with the earlier specimens, which occur on type B card-mounts, an example of which is shown above.
The card-mounts of type B take several forms, some of the earliest examples being of type B1 with the diamond-shaped registration mark impressed in the top right-hand corner of the card.
Other comments:
Godden notes the registration date as being 15th December 1879. On examples provided for this web site, the date has been read from the diamond registration mark on each as being 18th December 1879.
