John Wootton 1683-1764

Probably commissioned from the artist by Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin (1678-1766);
By descent to Mary, his daughter, who married Thomas Osborne, 4th Duke of Leeds (1713-1789);
Probably by descent to George Godolphin Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds, by whom sold in the early twentieth century;
With Leggatt, from whom acquired by the family of the present owners in 1957 

There never was a horse so well entitled to get racers as the Godolphin Arabian; for whoever has seen this horse must remember that his shoulders were deeper, and lay further into his back, than those of any horse yet seen.  Behind the shoulders, there was but a very small space ere the muscles of his loins rose exceedingly high, broad and expanded, which were inserted into his quarters with great strength and power than in any horse I believe ever yet seen of his dimensions, viz fifteen hands high.

(quoted by Charles Prior, The Royal Studs of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, together with a reproduction of the Second Earl of Godolphin’s Stud-book, and sundry other papers relating to the Thoroughbred Horse, 1935, p.135)

These words were written by the eighteenth-century veterinary surgeon, William Osmer, and they capture the unique qualities which allowed the Godolphin Arabian to become the stallion at the head of thoroughbred breeding in the eighteenth century, and ancestor of many of the greatest thoroughbreds in the history of racing. 

Eastern horses had been imported to England since the middle ages when crosses of Arabian and Barb horses were acquired from Italy and Spain.  James I, who was passionate about hunting and kept a lodge for that purpose in Newmarket, acquired the Markham Arabian in 1617, and by the Civil War the Royal Studs, established by Henry VIII, were the finest in the country.  After the Civil War this bloodstock had dispersed.  This coincided with the re-establishment of Newmarket as a centre for racing by Charles II, who saw it as an ideal venue for a racecourse.  The enthusiasm of Charles II undoubtedly gave racing the imprimatur of a high-society pursuit, and this in turn led to the development of the thoroughbred.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of the three great stallions brought to England between 1689 and 1730.  The Byerley Turk was the first of these, who was also painted by Wootton and whose portrait was sold in these rooms on 9^th July 1997 (fig.1).  He was followed by the Darley Arabian, foaled in 1700 and brought from Aleppo by Thomas Darley (fig.2), and finally the Godolphin Arabian was brought to England.  Each of these stallions founded enduring bloodlines from which by the male line, all modern thoroughbreds in the world descend.  Collectively they have become known as the Pillars of the Stud Book.

The facts concerning the origins of the Godolphin Arabian are scarce.  He was said to have been presented as tribute to the King Louis XV of France by the Bey of Tunis in 1730.  Vicomte de Manty describes the Arabian stallions in the king’s possession, and singles out one in particular called ‘Shami’ whose description corresponds with what we know of the Godolphin Arabian.  The Vicomte describes him as…

….a bay-brown with reddish mottles and a very little white on the hind feet, of beautiful conformation exquisitely proportioned with large hocks well let down, with legs of iron and unequalled lightness of forehand – a horse of incomparable beauty whose only flaw was being headstrong.  His forehead was broad, eyes large and full, sharply cut ears, large distended nostrils, a head full of fire and character though more masculine than pretty.  He had a long and beautifully curved neck and throat and a haughty, rather wild appearance…An essentially strong stallion type, his quarters and croup broad in spite of being half starved, tail carried in true Arab style.

(quoted by Lady Wentworth, Thoroughbred Racing Stock and its Ancestors – The Authentic Origin of Pure Blood, 1938, pp.222-23). 

This description tallies closely with the entry in Lord Godolphin’s stud-book where he is described as ”a brown bay, the off hind foot white, and a little white on ye inside corner of ye near Hind Hoof…He dyed ye 25^th off Dec^r, 1753, He was 14 Hands, one Inch & half, without shoes” (Prior, op. cit., p.163).  It is highly probable that both descriptions refer to the same horse.

This fine stallion was acquired by Edward Coke, who was the younger brother of the Earl of Leicester.  Edward Coke put him to stud on his newly acquired estate at Longford Hall, Derbyshire.  Edward Coke died in 1733 and in his will he left many of his racehorses to his friend, Francis, 2^nd Earl of Godolphin, where it acquired the name the Godolphin Arabian.  Although formal ownership only passed to Lord Godolphin 1733, it is possible that the racehorses may have been on his estate since as early as 1730 when the present work was painted.  This makes it likely that the present portrait was commissioned by Lord Godolphin.

The racehorse died in 1753 at the approximate age of twenty-nine.  He was buried underneath a gateway at the stable and a stone slab was placed over his grave with an inscription noting who lay beneath.  The gravesite still remains inside the archway of the stable block within the building complex.

The Godolphin Arabian never raced, but spent his life as a stallion, first at Longford Hall, and then at Gogmagog.  He was the sire of Lath, who was owned by the Duke of Devonshire and who was considered the outstanding racehorse of his day.  He later sired Regulus, out of Grey Robinson by Bald Galloway, who belonged to Lord Chedworth and who was undefeated during his racing career.  The most important son of the Godolphin Arabian, however, was Cade.  Cade was Lath's brother, and although inferior as a runner, was far superior as a sire.  It is through Cade that the male line continues down to the present day through his son, Matchem.  Other important sons of the Godolphin Arabian included Babraham, Dormouse and Bajazet, all of whom remained undefeated runners.  His most important grandson, however, was without doubt, Whistlejacket, who was later immortalised by Stubbs.

The present magnificent painting of the Godolphin Arabian encapsulates a new form of sporting art.  In the early part of the eighteenth century John Wootton followed in the traditions of his teacher, Jan Wyck, as well as of other old master painters such as Jacques Courtois and Dirk Maas, who specialised in hunting and battle scenes.  However, with the increasing interest in the Turf, Wootton became renowned for his portrayals of racing scenes at Newmarket.  It was a short step from this to pure horse portraiture and in 1726 Wootton painted the Hampton Court Chestnut Arabian for George I (The Royal Collection).  Such royal patronage was indicative of the changing favour of sporting art, and by 1744 Wootton had painted a series of sporting paintings for the Duke of Beaufort, the Earl of Arundel and the Marquess of Bath, at Badminton, Althorp and Longleat respectively.  Wootton was careful to combine a standardised compositional respresentation of the ideal Arabian form, with the unique markings and characteristics which set each stallion apart.   

Another version of the present composition is documented as hanging at Crabbet Park, and unsurprisingly for such a famous horse, a number of copies of the composition also exist.  It is likely, however, that the present painting, is the prime version.  The painting passed from the 2^nd Earl of Godolphin to his daughter, Mary, who married Thomas, 4^th Duke of Leeds.  The painting remained in the possession of the Dukes of Leeds until it was sold at some point in the early twentieth century.  The painting was later acquired in 1957 by the owners of Godolphin House (fig.1), which, fittingly for the provenance of this marvellous painting, was one of the former homes of the Leeds family.