John Ferneley Snr.

With Newhouse Galleries Inc., New York;
Anonymous sale,  New York, Sotheby's, 7 June 1991, lot 58, for $140,000;
Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Gentleman'), London, Sotheby's, 12 July 1995, lot 153, for £60,000, where acquired by the present owner.

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: The canvas is lined. The paint surface is stable. There is a pattern of craquelure throughout the composition and stretcher-bar lines are visible. These appear stable. The paint surface has an uneven varnish layer. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows scattered retouchings throughout the composition including along the stretcher-bar lines, within the figure and horse and within the foreground and sky. Overall the painting is in reasonably good condition. The work is framed.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Philip, by the celebrated Filho da Puta out of Treasure, was a chestnut colt foaled in 1828. He raced from 1833 to 1836, winning six times, and is depicted here with a jockey up, in the colours of his owner, Lord Elcho. Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (1795–1883) was the eldest son of Francis, 8th Earl of Wemyss and his wife Margaret Campbell. He succeeded his father as 9th Earl of Wemyss and 5th Earl of March in 1853. Having matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1812 he became a member and later Lieutenant-General of the Royal Company of Archers. He hunted with the Quorn and, as a Freemason, served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland between 1827 and 1830, and Lord Lieutenant of County Peebles in Scotland from 1853 until 1880. In 1817, he married Louisa, fourth daughter of Richard Bingham, 2nd Earl of Lucan, at the British Embassy in Paris.

John Ferneley’s account books, which are contained in three volumes, are notoriously difficult to decipher and by no means complete. However Lord Elcho’s name appears among a list of accounts from the early 1820s, in relation to a payment of £21 for a portrait of two horses. A later entry, dated March 1843, recording a payment of £10.10s from the Earl of March for a portrait of a chestnut horse could possibly refer to this picture.¹

1. See G. Paget, The Melton Mowbray of John Ferneley, Leicester 1931, pp. 132 and 148.