To the world at large and in the opinion of many critics, there was, in his Academy work of 1876, promise of an exceptionally successful career. Decorative design and modelling in relief were Caldecott's especial forte, and it is to be regretted that so few of these works remain to us. "The Horse Fair in Brittany," in the possession of the writer, is one of the few completed works of this character. He was not destined to be a prolific painter, although strongly urged at this time by members of the Royal Academy to devote his energies to painting. Neither his health nor his previous training justified his leaving a branch of art in which he was already becoming famous, that of book illustration.
In 1876 the system of reproducing sketches in pen and ink by photo-engraving became general in England, and in the pages of Academy Notes of that year there appeared, for the first time, sketches by the painters of their exhibited works.
Amongst well-known artists—who powerfully aided in founding a system of illustration which was destined to spread over the world—were Sir John Gilbert, R.A., H. Stacy Marks, R.A., Marcus Stone, A.R.A., and, the comparatively young, Randolph Caldecott. The three first-named are masters in line each in his own style, and their methods were studied and imitated by many other painters in England to whom line drawing was then a sealed book. Several sketches of pictures in the Academy Notes, 1876, were drawn by Caldecott, including the portrait of Captain Burton, painted by Sir Frederick Leighton, P. R. A.
Captain Burton, R.A., 1876.
In June he made a series of illustrations, entitled "Christmas Visitors," for the Graphic newspaper; and about this time the drawings for Bracebridge Hall were finished.