Fine 19th Century English School Sporting Oil Painting of Carriage Horses & Hound with Provenance (Iona Antiques London).
Fine 19th Century English Sporting Oil Painting of Carriage Horses & Hound
A superb and grandly scaled 19th-century British provincial sporting oil on canvas, depicting a finely matched pair of bay carriage horses in full harness alongside a hound, set before the grand stone gates of a country estate.
Executed to a very high standard, capturing the exquisite detail of the leather bridles, blinkers, and the fine sheen of the horses' coats.
Signed lower right W. Birch and inscribed with what appears to be a London address. While Birch is an unrecorded 19th-century artisan, working-class animal portraitists frequently inscribed their local studio or street addresses to generate local trade. The subject matter - a matched pair of harness horses in full tack alongside a hound -strongly suggests a private commission for a prosperous horse owner or carriage master of the period.
The reverse of the frame retains its original, authentic gallery label from Iona Antiques (London), complete with their British Antique Dealers' Association (BADA) vetting emblem. Founded by Stephen and Iona Joseph, Iona Antiques was internationally celebrated as the world's premier specialist gallery for 19th-century folk, naïve, and primitive animal portraits. Having this label is an absolute guarantee of the painting's period authenticity and historical integrity.
With its classic subject matter and impressive scale, this piece perfectly embodies the timeless "English Country House" aesthetic. It comes presented in its beautiful, period-appropriate gilt frame and is ready to hang.
Condition:
In excellent antique condition. The canvas is taut and lined on the reverse. Paint surface with minor light age-craquelure; the colours remain wonderfully rich and saturated, and the gilt frame shows only minor, age-appropriate wear that enhances its country-house character.Framed dimensions: 86 × 73 × 5 cm
Framed dimensions: 86 × 73 × 5 cm
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