Sotheby's auction: English sporting art by old masters (April 2022)

Sporting Art from a Hampshire Private Collection

Sotheby's are delighted to present a group of fine sporting paintings from a Hampshire private collection, including paintings by some of the most famous exponents of this uniquely British genre: the early horse painter, James Seymour (1702-52); John Ferneley Sr. (1782-1860); Henry Alken Sr. (1785-1851); John F. Herring Sr. (1795-1865); and Ben Marshall (1768-1835).

These paintings not only celebrate bygone traditions and a way of life, but also act variously as important historical records of documented events, satirical commentaries on the figures included, and as fascinating markers in the development of animal painting, which reached new heights in the scientifically-informed work of George Stubbs (1724-1806), and subsequently saw a transformation through the photographic discoveries of Eadweard Muybridge.

Many of the works in this selection were acquired from the series of fours sales held at Sotheby's between 1973 and 1976, which dispersed the esteemed collection of Jack R. Dick (1927-74) - notorious entrepreneur, cattle breeder, and insatiable collector of 18th and 19th century English sporting pictures. Dick was quoted as saying "In five years I put together the finest collection of English sporting paintings ever assembled and brought them back to the U.S. before anyone knew what was happening."

The sales of Dick's paintings back in London set record prices for a number of artists and revitalised the market for subject matter that had commanded some of the highest prices amongst their contemporary patrons. Dick likewise recognised the enduring worth of these painted memorials: "If you're going to invest in horses, you're better off doing it on canvas because those animals don't eat, they don't get sick and they don't fade in the stretch."

 

James Seymour (1702-1752)
"The Match, Two Racehorses on the Downs" (1733)

Estimate 20 000 - 30 000 GBP

Lot sold 22680 GBP 

James Seymour (1702-1752)
"A coursing party: a lady and gentleman on horseback, a huntsman holding a dead hare with two greyhounds in a wooded landscape" (1740s)

Estimate 15 000 - 20 000 GBP

Henry Thomas Alken Snr. (1785-1851)
"The Meet", "The Brook", "Full Cry", "The Death" 

Estimate 12 000 - 18 000 GBP 

Henry Thomas Alken Snr. (1785-1851)
Hunting Scenes: Setting off; The End of the Day

Estimate 6 000 - 8 000 GBP

John Frederick Herring Snr. (1795-1865)
"A ladies bay hunter held by a mounted groom in a park" (1825)

Estimate 12 000 - 18 000 GBP

Lot sold 15 120 GBP

Ben Marshall (1768-1835)
"A bay hunter in an open landscape, a fox running at its side" (1808)

Estimate 20 000 - 30 000 GBP

Ben Marshall (1768-1835)

"Portrait of J.V. Grinstead, brother-in-law to Lord Glamis and Chief Whip to Lord Glamis’ staghounds, mounted on a bay hunter" 

Estimate 30 000 - 40 000 GBP

Francis Calcraft Turner (1782 - 1846)

"General Henry Wyndham and Lord William Osborne going away from Raffling Woods in full cry" (1837) 

Estimate 10 000 - 15 000 GBP

John Ferneley Snr. (1782 - 1860)

"Three huntsmen in a wooded landscape"

Estimate 15 000 - 20 000 GBP

Lot sold 18 900 GBP

 

References

Sotheby's auction April 2022