JOHN A. SEAVERNS TUFTS UNIVERSITY l-IBRAHIES_^ 3 9090 6'l4 534 073 n i«4 Webster Family Librany of Veterinary/ Medicine Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuits University 200 Westboro Road ^^ Nortli Grafton, MA 01536 [ t ANIMAL PAINTERS C. Hancock. Piu.xt. r.n^raied on Wood by F. Bablm^e. DEER-STALKING ; ANIMAL PAINTERS OF ENGLAND From the Year 1650. A brief history of their lives and works Illustratid with thirty -one specimens of their paintings^ and portraits chiefly from wood engravings by F. Babbage COMPILED BV SIR WALTER GILBEY, BART. Vol. II. 10116011 VINTOX & CO. 9, NEW BRIDGE STREET, LUDGATE CIRCUS, E.C. I goo Limiiei' CONTENTS. ILLUSTRATIONS. HANCOCK, CHARLES. Deer-Stalking ... ... ... ... ... lo HENDERSON, CHARLES COOPER. Portrait of the Artist ... ... ... i8 HERRING, J. F. Elis ... 26 Portrait of the Artist ... ... ... 32 HOWITT, SAMUEL. The Chase ... ... ... ... ... 38 Taking Wild Horses on the Plains of Moldavia ... ... ... ... ... 42 LANDSEER, SIR EDWIN, R.A. "Toho! " 54 Brutus 70 MARSHALL, BENJAMIN. Portrait of the Artist 94 POLLARD, JAMES. Fly Fishing REINAGLE, PHILIP, R.A. Portrait of Colonel Thornton ... ... ii6 Breaking Cover 120 SARTORIUS, JOHN. Looby at full Stretch 124 SARTORIUS, FRANCIS. Mr. Bishop's Celebrated Trotting Mare ... 128 V i i i. Illustrations PACE SARTORIUS, JOHN F. Coursing at Hatfield Park ... 144 SCOTT, JOHN. Portrait of the Artist ... ... ... 152 Death of the Dove ... ... ... ... 160 SEYMOUR, JAMES. Brushing into Cover ... 168 Sketch for Hunting Picture ... ... 176 STOTHARD, THOMAS, R.A. Portrait of the Artist 190 STUBBS, GEORGE, R.A. Portrait of the Duke of Portland, Welbeck Abbey 200 TILLEMAN, PETER. View of a Horse Match over the Long Course, Newmarket ... ... ... 208 TURNER, F. C. The Find—"Hark to Rallywood " 218 WARD, JAMES. Monitor 234 Portrait of the Artist ... .. ... 240 WOLSTENHOLME, DEAN, Senr. Lord's Wood, Leaden Roding ... ... 248 Portrait of the Artist ... ... ... 250 WOLSTENHOLME, DEAN, Junr. Burial of Tom Moody 256 Portrait of the Artist ... ... ... 258 WOOTTON, JOHN. Waiting for the Master ... ... 266 The Chase is Over 270 ANIMAL PAINTERS, CHARLES HANCOCK. (Born circa 1795. Died circa 1855.) CHARLES HANCOCK was born about the year 1795; the exact date cannot now be ascertained, nor are there available any particulars concerning his antecedents, belongings and place of birth. The exhibition of a picture at the Royal us first Academy in 18 19 gives our clue ; that year discovers Hancock, then a young man of about 24 years, residing at 55, St. James's Street. He won this first success with a portrait of " Mr. a near relation, no doubt, of his own. J. Hancock," His name does not occur in the Royal Academy catalogue of the following year ; but at the exhibi- tion of 1 82 1 we find him represented by "The Broken Teapot," a title which suggests that his artistic tastes took first a direction domestic rather I VOL. U. V 2 ANIMAL PAINTERS than sporting. At this latter date he was residing at Marlborough, in Wiltshire, and thenceforward until the year 1830 he would seem to have had no fixed abode : he dwelt sometimes at Marlborough, sometimes at Reading, and sometimes at High Wycombe, his London address being given as " Messrs. Tattersall's, Grosvenor Place," through which firm his dwelling-place was always to be discovered. Nine or ten years' residence in country localities where sport, fox-hunting particularly, might be enjoyed, naturally imbued Hancock with sporting tastes ; and he has left evidence of his proclivities in numerous pictures. Between the years 18 19 and 1847 he exhibited at the Royal Academy twenty- three works ; and though these no doubt include many of his best efforts, it is noteworthy that the portraits of racehorses (a class of work which formed one of his specialities) are not represented among them. He did not confine his exhibits to the Royal Academy ; fifty-five paintings from his easel were shown at the British Institution, and forty-seven at the Suffolk Street exhibitions ; he also contributed occasionally to other London galleries. Though we find Hancock residing at Marl- borough in 1 82 1, it was not until 1825 that he turned his attention to animal subjects and sporting — CHARLES HANCOCK 3 scenes. The first of such to call for notice was his portrait of the celebrated racehorse Sir Hercules, bred by, and the property of, Lord Longford, for whom the picture was painted. This horse, bred in Ireland in 1826, was sold in 1833 to go to America. For Lord Berners, Hancock executed a portrait of his racehorse Recovery, foaled in 1827. Both of these works were engraved by Richard Parr. At one period of his career, indeed, it would seem that Charles Hancock shared with J. H. Herring the distinction of being the fashionable painter of winning horses on the turf; between the years 1835 and 1843 he painted portraits of the following : Mundig, winner of the Derby, 1835, for John Bowes, Esq. Scott is the jockey in the saddle. This portrait was engraved in large size, printed in colours, and published by Rudolph Ackermann, of Regent Street, in September, 1835. Richard Parr also engraved a small plate from this portrait. Queen of Trumps, winner of the Oaks and St. Leger, 1835, and one of the celebrated winning mares. This picture was engraved and published in colours by Rudolph Ackermann : the plate is a large size, the same as that from the portrait of Mundig. Glencoe, bred by the Earl of Jersey in 1831 : 4 ANIMAL PAINTERS winner of the Royal Cup at Ascot in 1835. Painted in 1836, and engraved by E. Duncan; size of plate, 16^ inches by 12 inches; published in colours by Rudolph Ackermann in 1836. Bay Middleton, winner of the Two Thousand and Derby, 1836. Engraved by E. Duncan; size of plate, 16.J inches by 12 inches; published in colours by Rudolph Ackermann in 1836. Don bred in by Lord Chesterfield John, 1835 ; winner of the St. Leger, 1838. This portrait was engraved by E. Duncan; size of plate, 162^ by 12 inches, and published in colours by Rudolph Acker- mann in 1838. Coronation, bred by Mr. Rawlinson ; winner of the Derby, 1841. This picture was engraved in small size by E. Paterson. Satirist, bred by Lord Westminster ; winner of the St. Leger, 1841. Attila, bred by Colonel Hancox ; winner of the Derby, 1842. Our Nell, bred by Mr. Dawson ; winner of the Oaks, 1842. Blue Bonnet, winner of the St. Leger, 1842. Cotherstone, bred by John Bowes, Esq. ; winner of the Two Thousand and Derby, 1843, Nutwith, bred by Captain Wrather ; winner of the St. Leger, 1843. Faugh-a-Ballagh, bred in Ireland, and purchased ; CHARLES HANCOCK 5 in 1842 by E. J. Irwin, Esq. ; winner of the St. Leger and Cesarewitch, 1844. The portraits of Satirist, Attila, Our Nell, Blue Bonnet, Cotherstone, Nutwith, and Faugh-a-Ballagh were all engraved in small size by E. Hacker. In addition to the works mentioned as having been engraved, several other prints from his pictures are in existence. Hancock's abilities were recognised by the editor of the New Sporting Magazine before he painted any of the equine portraits mentioned above. The first plate from a picture by his brush appears in the volume for 1833, and among the more noteworthy paintings reproduced in the Magazine may be : " mentioned the following — In vol. 5, The Fox," painted in 1833 and engraved by Richard Parr. In vol. 20, Marmion, an Old English bloodhound belonging to Lord William Beresford ; the plate engraved by E. Paterson. In vol. 22, " New Year's Morn," gamekeepers of the olden time going out on their rounds ; engraved by E. Paterson. In vol. 29, " How Happy could I be with Either," a fox watching a couple of rabbits in the distance engraved by J. R. Scott. Examination of the Sporting Magazine of the time reveals five engravings from the artist's paintings. In vol. 87 of December, 1835, for example, we find the picture " Scotch Terrier — 6 ANIMAL PAINTERS Chasing a Rabbit," which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1832 ; it was very beautifully engraved by H. Beckwith as "The Warrener's Enemy." The rabbit, it may be remarked, is a white one ; the keenness characteristic of the terrier in close pursuit is admirably portrayed. Three of the five plates represented foxes under varying conditions. Hancock never showed to better advantage than when painting a fox, and he was evidently fond of drawing wild animals whose beauty and character afford such infinite possibilities to the clever artist. The following are a few of his numerous pictures which appeal to lovers of horse and hound and of the gun : " Dos-a-dos," sleeping hounds huddled together; painted in 1833 and exhibited at the Gallery of the Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street, Pall Mall. Also a "White Horse chased by Black Spaniels." These pictures are described by a contemporary critic as " very clever." "A Series of Heads of Sporting Dogs," the joint work of Abraham Cooper, R.A., and Charles Hancock, were engraved, bound, and published together in book form (royal folio) by Harding and King, London, in 1833. " The Widow " represents a young widow seated in her late husband's arm-chair with a large hound — CHARLES HANCOCK 7 by her side. This picture was engraved, and published by Harding and King in 1833. In 1832 Charles Hancock exhibited two pictures at the British Institution : one, "The Keeper going his Rounds," was described as "a very spirited and talented production ; the eagerness of the terriers as they watch their master's movements is admir- ably depicted." Of the other, "A Fox on the Watch," the critic says, "It has been purchased by Sir M.