{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1818126"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1818126/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PV6474/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PV6474/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PV6474","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1818126/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1818126","accessionNumber":"S.1490-2026","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"J.L.K.'s Circus","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Illustration of the entrance and exterior of JLK's Circus Big Top, Circus Cimarros, at Burgess Hill, 23 to 29 September 1981. The artwork shows the ticket office, with hoarding attached to a caravan. The scene is a wet day with the tent reflected in a large puddle.\n\nStewart Waghorn (1929-2016) was an Associate of the Royal College of Art and member of the Circus Friends Association who spent more than 50 years documenting circus in the UK through his artworks.\r\n\nWaghorn was creatively inspired by circus from an early age, creating a model transport for ‘Long John Silver’s Circus’, after an inspirational visit to Lord John Sanger’s Circus as a child. During his studies at the Royal College of Art, Waghorn would attend the Bertram Mills Circus at Olympia on a press pass, watching and sketching the acts and environments from 8:30am until the last show. His work ‘Circus Scene’ (1954) is held in the collection of the Royal College of Art and in the 1950s and 1960s he had six circus painting exhibited in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.\r\n\nIn the late 1970s Waghorn moved to an illustrative aesthetic. This work is from a large group of technical illustration artworks that explores the environments, architecture, engineering and logistics of circus in exceptional detail.","physicalDescription":"Watercolour illustration of the ticket office, entrance and exterior of a circus tent in a wet field, with reflection in a puddle.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Waghorn, Stewart ARCA","id":"A19513"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25136"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"Watercolour","id":"AAT15045"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Painting","id":"x30598"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour painting on paper","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment and leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Circus","id":"THES261738"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2026PV6474"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES360838"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":"x30598"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1982","earliest":"1982-01-01","latest":"1982-12-31"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Margaret Waghorn","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"610","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"870","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"J.L.K.'s Circus illustration, Stewart Waghorn, 1982","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.1490-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"1490","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-11-06","recordCreationDate":"2026-03-11","availableToBook":false}}