Lot 243
GEORGE EARL (1824-1908), FOUR SPORTING PAINTINGS MOUNTED AS A ROOM DIVIDER
DATED 1895
Auction: Five Centuries Day One | Wed 11th November | Lots 1 to 322
Description
comprised of four individual oil on canvas paintings, each laid down on board and mounted in oak frames forming a four fold room divider or floor screen; each panel depicting wild game or animals in natural landscapes, with handwritten inscribed titles on the inner frames; the subjects to include studies of hares titled ‘Farmers Fields’; foxes titled ‘Motherly Care’; a black grouse titled ‘Black Game’; and a pheasant, numbered but untitled; each signed; the moulded and carved oak frames above panel bases, surmounted by a top rail made to resemble a fence and gates, mounted on ceramic castors
Dimensions
each panel approximately 185cm x 35cm; the screen 234cm wide, 208cm high [overall]
Provenance
Private Collection, West of Scotland, where it has been in the same family for forty years
Footnote
George Earl (1824–1908) was a distinguished British sporting and animal painter, celebrated for his accomplished depictions of dogs, horses, game and country pursuits. A keen sportsman himself, he brought an intimate knowledge of rural life to his work, combining careful observation of animal anatomy with a strong sense of atmosphere and narrative. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy between 1857 and 1883, earning particular recognition for his sporting compositions and portraits of celebrated hunting dogs. Among his best-known works are The Field Trial Meeting and the companion paintings Going North and Coming South, which capture the social world of the Victorian sporting gentleman. Earl also established a notable artistic dynasty; his daughter Maud and son Percy, together with his brother Thomas, followed him into the field of animal painting. His work remains an important record of Victorian sporting culture and its enduring fascination with the British countryside.
The present lot is rare for late Victorian sporting art as a series of four panels. The compositions bring together a variety of country pursuits and naturalistic subjects, in woodland and rural landscapes, united by their complementary palette and evocative treatment of the British countryside. The combination of four signed works by Earl with their purpose-made contemporary framework is an unusual survival.