Display caption
Kennington Oval, 1849
Charles Jones Basebe (1818 – 1880)
MCC Collection, accession unknown
Oil on canvas
T.377
In 1849 The Oval was only four years old, the first recorded match there taking place between Montpelier and Clapton on July 17 1845. The ground was an immediate success, helped by a pitch less dangerous than that at Lord’s and by the newly formed Surrey CCC making it their home. The original Pavilion seen here, the only significant building on the ground, was replaced in 1861 by a new one incorporating a covered scorebox and telegraph room.
Charles Jones Basebe was born in Sussex in 1818 and began his career painting portraits and miniatures. He achieved great success with a series of cricketing portraits in the 1840s and for his panorama of a match between Sussex and Kent at Brighton, later published as a print by WH Mason.