Gilt Framed Zebra Oil Painting 'After George Stubbs' Signed Steve Rogers

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Gilt Framed Zebra Oil Painting 'After George Stubbs' Signed Steve Rogers

About the Item

Portrait of a Zebra, standing, turned to the left, in a park. A really eye-catching copy on canvas of The First Zebra Seen in England originally by the prestigious George Stubbs. Framed in ornate gold gilt and black carved frame. Please note, there is a small chip in left corner of the frame. See images. About original painting: This is one of the earliest in a long series of paintings of exotic animals, many of which Stubbs produced for his friends William and John Hunter, the Scottish anatomists and men of science. Stubbs may have met John Hunter in connection with the procurement of cadavers that the older, more socially established, and more medically experienced William dissected for his pupils and other interested people in the basement of his London town house. We do not know why Stubbs painted Queen Charlotte’s zebra, or African “she-ass,” nor why the painting was still in his studio at his death, but it has long been presumed that access to the animal was arranged by William Hunter, who served regularly as accoucheur to the queen. This was in fact the first zebra to be seen in England. It was brought from South Africa in 1762 by Sir Thomas Adams, the commanding officer of H.M.S. Terpsichore, as a gift from the governor for young Queen Charlotte. Two live specimens were dispatched from the Cape of Good Hope in what Malcolm Warner has described as “Noah's-ark fashion,” but only the female survived the voyage. As soon as she reached London, the zebra was installed in the menagerie at Buckingham House (Buckingham Palace) and became an instant celebrity. “The Queen's she-ass,” wrote one observer, “was pestered with visits, and had all her hours employed from morning to night in satisfying the curiosity of the public. She had a sentinel and guard placed at the door of her stable. . . . The crowds that resorted to the Asinine palace were exceeding great,” (MacClintock, 1992, p. 4). In fact, she also inspired a number of rude songs—including this one that circulated in broadsheets: Ye Bucks and ye Jemmies who amble the Park, Whose Hearts and whose Heads are as lightsome as Cork, Through “Buckingham Gate”, as to “Chelsea” you pass, Without Fee or Reward, you may see the Q---‘s A--. “See the Q---‘s A--. See the Q---'s A--, Without Fee or Reward”, &c. (The Queen’s Ass. a new humorous allegorical song . . . By H. Howard, To the Tune of “Stick a Pin There”. Broadsheet, British Museum) Stubbs’s grasp of the anatomical differences between zebras and horses is, of course, masterly, and in the present work the backward direction of the ears, the dewlap on the underside of the neck or the front, and the “gridiron” pattern of the stripes on the nether regions, immediately above the tail—all these are exactly consistent with zoological verisimilitude and, in fact, identify the present animal as the smallest of three subspecies of zebra, the Cape Mountain. “The Queen's Ass” survived until 3 April 1773, perhaps in spite of sharing its accommodation in due course with an elephant and being moved to the Tower of London.

Similar to:
George Stubbs (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 34 in (86.36 cm)Width: 40 in (101.6 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)
Style:
British Colonial (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Paint,Oiled
Place of Origin:
North America
Period:
20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1900s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Los Angeles, CA
Reference Number:
Seller: GT1stDibs: LU881216321552