663 - John Frederick Herring, ‘The dam of Jack Spigot’, oil painting from 1821, framed

John Frederick Herring, ‘The dam of Jack Spigot’, oil painting from 1821, framed John Frederick Herring, 1795 London - 1865 Meopham near Tonbridge, British painter, landscape depicting the racehorse Jack Spigot as a foal and his foster mother, a grey-spotted mare, Jack Spigot was the first horse that Herring painted from a live model (The Badminton Magazine of Sports & Pastimes, 1906, p. 306), oil on wood, 25 x 32.6 cm, inscribed on the reverse “The dam of Jack Spigot by Harring 1821. Taken by him at Bolton [...]”, in its original gilt frame. About the artist: Harring Sr. is regarded as one of the most significant British animal and horse painters of the Victorian era. In the 1820s, he became famous for his portraits of the settlers of the St Leger Derby and emerged as one of Britain’s most sought-after horse painters. His works combine anatomical precision with vibrant landscapes. In 1845, the Duchess of Kent appointed him as her animal painter, and shortly afterwards Queen Victoria became his most important patron. His works can be found, inter alia, in the Royal Collection, the Tate and the V&A.