Under the Hammer

Lot 94

This lovely group of oil paintings by John Emms is a wonderful example of three of the four main subject matters that make up ‘sporting art’: a popular subject in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, traditionally referred to as ‘animal pictures’. Works of this genre documented the dominant rural sports of the time, including fox hunting, game shooting, fishing, and horse racing. Emms, particularly renowned for his paintings of dogs, was an avid huntsman himself and regularly went out with the packs of the New Forest area, where he lived most of his life.

Lot 95

Many sporting paintings of the nineteenth century depicted the patron taking part in these country pursuits, often on their beloved horse and with their land stretching out into the distance. The present work by Lionel Edwards is a perfect example: here we can see Herman Tiarks (1875-1955), the Master of the Mendip Foxhounds, mounted on his horse, Slade Grey. In the distance, we can spot Crooks Peak in the Mendips, which was close to Tiarks' Somerset home.

Lot 88

The fact that fishing requires only a rod and a river meant that it was a more accessible sporting pastime than one which required a horse or trained dogs. It subsequently became a very popular theme for artists and patrons. Lot 88 in our upcoming sale is a prime example of Henry Leonidas Rolfe's work and this genre for which he was highly regarded. Like so many of Rolfe’s paintings, here he depicts a cluster of fish on a riverbank with the rod in the foreground. During his life, Rolfe exhibited many of his paintings at key institutions such as The Royal Academy of Arts, The British Institution, and The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.

Lot 85

The sixth son of a Leicestershire wheelwright, John Ferneley moved to London to study at the Royal Academy School before returning to his home county and settling in Melton Mowbray. Known as one of Britain’s top equestrian artists, Ferneley was often commissioned by people of high importance for portraits of themselves alongside their prized horses, often to be displayed in their fine country houses. These works confirmed the sitters' participation in such gentlemanly pursuits and their sporting successes. Lot 85 is said to be Charles, 3^rd Baron of Southampton, Master of the Quorn Hunt. Lot 86, also in the upcoming sale, is another very fine example of Ferneley’s work depicting a similar subject.

Lot 149

As a result of industrialisation, a great shift occurred as large numbers of the population moved from the countryside to the cities. This tranquil painting by Lamorna Birch depicts a more picturesque and slower type of sporting scene that shows two fishermen, possibly a father and son, on the bridge above a meandering river. Birch cleverly focuses on the idyllic empty landscape; perhaps an antidote to the growing cities and people's increasingly hectic lives, this work highlights the escape, peace, and quiet found only in the countryside and in slow sporting pursuits. Additional idylls painted by Lamorna Birch can be found in this sale, including several other lovely river scenes such as lots 147, 148 and 150.

The British and European Art auction takes place on 22 November.
Browse the sale and register to bid now.