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Benjamin Marshall
The Right Honourable Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne with Horse and Dog

$116,917.26
£84,500
€99,662.14
CA$161,767.19
A$175,525.54
CHF 93,113.02
MX$2,155,439.81
NOK 1,151,505.69
SEK 1,090,474.53
DKK 743,936.45

About the Item

Benjamin Marshall The Right Honourable Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne with Horse and Dog 1768-1835 Oil on canvas Image size: 33 x 39 1/4 inches Gilt frame Unsigned Provenance Arthur Ackermann & Son, Ltd., London Christie's, New York, 4 June 1982 Christie's London, Sporting Art, 22 May 2003 Exhibited London, Basil Dighton, 3 Savile Row, Old Sporting Prints, 1913, no. 121, illustrated as frontispiece London, Arthur Ackermann & Son, Ltd., Annual Exhibition of Sporting Paintings, 1982, no. 38. This equine portrait depicts a gentleman in hunting attire looking out towards the viewer, his right hand holding the bridle of his majestic bay Hunter horse. In the lower left of the painting, a black and tan hunting terrier crouches in an alert and playful position, eagerly looking towards his master. The portrait bears many similarities to an earlier work depicting the Honourable Peniston Lamb, with his bay Hunter Assassin and his black and tan hunting terrier Tanner. In this portrait, Lamb even wears the same hunting attire. It is possible, therefore, that this painting is a commission undertaken by Marshall for Lamb. The painting demonstrates a number of masterful characteristics. The expansive sky and landscape provides a stunning background to the scene of the gentleman and his animals, and depicts the English countryside so familiar to those involved in the hunting sport. The playful and alert stance of the terrier demonstrates Marshall’s familiarity with the behaviour of dogs, especially those used for hunting. The attention to detail in regards to the figure of the gentleman serves to demonstrate Marshall’s competency as a portraitist from his time studying under Lemuel Francis Abbott. However, it is undeniably the profile of the Hunter horse that is the outstanding feature, with its shimmering coat stretched under defined muscles that truly demonstrate Marshall’s extensive attention to detail regarding equine anatomy. Benjamin Marshall In 1768, Benjamin Marshall was born in Seagrave, Leicestershire. Whilst his initial painterly focus was on portraits, having studied under the portraits Lemuel Francis Abbott, he turned towards equine portraiture in his mid twenties He exhibited thirteen equine portraits at the Royal Academy in the early 19th century, and also had his work engraved for Wheble’s Sporting Magazine and The Sportsman’s Repository. At the same time, Marshall would often undertake private commissions for horse racers and hunters all across the United Kingdom, including members of the royal family and English nobility. Marshall also took on apprentices, such as the sporting painter John Fernley. In 1812, Marshall moved to Newmarket to be closer to the horse races there in an attempt to garner more patronage and study the most prestigious of horses. In 1819, he was left permanently disabled and briefly unable to paint by a coach crash. Whilst recovering from this severe accident, Marshall became The Sporting Magazine’s racing correspondent under a pseudonym. Benjamin Marshall returned to London in 1825 and lived there until his death in early 1835. His equine portraits are often described as being the best after George Stubbs’ oeuvre, and reflect the importance of sport in regard to social status in 19th century Britain.
  • Creator:
    Benjamin Marshall
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 33 in (83.82 cm)Width: 39.25 in (99.7 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU52416685162

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