Old Masters Evening Sale | 西洋古典油畫晚拍
Old Masters Evening Sale | 西洋古典油畫晚拍
Property from an American Private Collection | 美國私人收藏
Auction Closed
December 4, 08:03 PM GMT
Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from an American Private Collection
美國私人收藏
JOHN FREDERICK HERRING SNR.
老約翰・費德里克・海林
Surrey 1795 - 1863 Meopham, Kent
1795年生於薩里,1863年卒於肯特梅珀姆
The Start of the Doncaster Gold Cup, 1825: Lottery, Longwaist, Cedric and Figaro all with jockey up
《1825年唐卡斯特金盃比賽開幕:洛特里、朗韋斯特、錫德里克、費加洛與賽馬騎師》
signed and dated lower right: J F Herring / 1827
款識:藝術家簽名並紀年J F Herring / 1827(右下)
oil on canvas
油彩畫布
47 x 91.5 cm.; 18½ x 36 in.
47 x 91.5公分;18 ½ x 36英寸
Mr and Mrs Walter M. Jeffords;
With Richard Green, London, from whom acquired.
The 1825 Doncaster Gold Cup was won by Lottery, a large dark bay racehorse by Tramp out of Mandane, which is seen here on the left with his jockey G. Nelson up, held by a groom. Bred by Richard Watt, at Bishop Burton in Yorkshire, he was an attractive, sixteen-hand tall, racehorse with a nervous and uncertain temperament but extraordinary natural ability. Owned by Thomas Whitaker of Downthorpe Hall, he displayed a number of undesirable traits as a colt, such as getting down and rolling when he could not rid himself of his rider in any other way, but when he did run he was outstanding and was considered by some ‘the horse of a century’ who gave ‘splendid exhibitions of courage and speed’.
In 1824, as a four-year-old, Lottery won the King’s Plate at Newcastle and beat Abron at York by six lengths, going on to win the Cup at the same meeting by ten lengths. His greatest victory, however, was the 1825 Doncaster Gold cup. A famously hard-fought race, he led all the way, beating Mr Craven's Longwaist by a neck but leaving the rest of the field over half a mile behind; including Mr Lumley's second place finisher Falcon; Mr Farquharson's Figaro (the rightmost of the three horses depicted here); Lord Silgo's Starch; Mr Lambton's Cedric (the middle horse of the three horses on the right); the Duke of Leeds’ Crowcatcher; Lord Exeter's Zealot; and Mr Duncome's bay filly St Helena. In all Lottery won eleven races. However, his always uncertain temper and naturally erratic behaviour was aggravated by over training and mismanagement, but for which many contemporaries thought he would otherwise have been one of the most brilliant performers on the British turf.
As a stallion Lottery sired numerous winners, including the St Leger winner Chorister and no less than eight winners of the Grand National at Aintree descended from him within six generations. In 1834 he was imported to France by Henri Lacase where he stood for the French National Stud at the Bois de Boulogne, with Cadland and Physician, and sired some good stayers that made their mark on the French turf. One of his sons, Consul, was sent to the USA where he got one of America’s great race mares, Miss Foote; and his daughter, Frolicsome Fanny, was the dam of one of America’s best pre-Civil War racehorses, Planet.
Founded in 1766 the Doncaster Gold Cup is the oldest continuously run horse race in Britain and a subject that Herring treated on a number of occasions. A variant of this composition, different in format and signed and dated 1825, was sold in New York, Sotheby’s, 4 November 2011, lot 101 for $2.1 million. Despite being essentially self-taught, Herring's paintings are undoubtedly the most accurate depictions of the history of the turf in the first half of the nineteenth century. The artist had sketched animals since childhood. At the age of eighteen, while working as a coachman, he was able to study many different breeds of horses at close quarters and by the age of twenty-five he was exhibiting at the Royal Academy. His evident talent was highly prized by the wealthy British aristocracy and supporters of the turf, including Queen Victoria, who commissioned him extensively to immortalise their much cherished racehorses and hunters.