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C1830
Industry. Winner of the Oaks Stakes ( Value £2850)…
Rare, large early c.19th separately issued, hand coloured aquatint equestrian portrait after John Frederick Herring Sr., depicting Industry. Winner of the Oaks Stakes (value £2,850) at Epsom, 1838. The Oaks Stakes at Epsom in 1838 is one of the principal … Read Full Description
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Full Title:
Industry. Winner of the Oaks Stakes ( Value £2850) at Epsom, 1838. She was bred by the Earl of Chesterfield in 1835, got by Priam out of Aranche, bred by Mr. Houldsworth in 1822 by Filho da Puta, Her dam Treasure by Camillus out of Hyancinthus, out of Flora by King Fergus, &c The Property of the Earl of Chesterfield.
Date:
C1830
Condition:
Tears to left margin and wear at lower left margin and faint spotting in margins.
Technique:
Aquatint with fine strong hand colouring.
Image Size:
425mm
x 315mm
Paper Size:
540mm
x 470mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1830
Description:
Rare, large early c.19th separately issued, hand coloured aquatint equestrian portrait after John Frederick Herring Sr., depicting Industry. Winner of the Oaks Stakes (value £2,850) at Epsom, 1838.
The Oaks Stakes at Epsom in 1838 is one of the principal Classic races of the British turf. The horse is shown in formal lateral profile with jockey mounted, set within an open landscape typical of British sporting imagery of the period. The composition adheres to the established conventions of the racehorse portrait: clear outline, measured stance, and emphasis on accurate delineation of conformation, musculature, and bearing. Such visual precision reflects the dual function of these prints as both commemorative sporting images and practical records of valuable bloodstock. Aquatint, widely employed in the early nineteenth century for sporting subjects, allowed for subtle tonal modelling and atmospheric landscape effects, while hand colouring enhanced the lifelike quality of the animal and tack. Prints of this type were frequently issued after paintings by leading sporting artists and published for an audience that extended beyond aristocratic patrons to the growing middle-class market engaged with racing culture. The Oaks Stakes, established in 1779 and restricted to three-year-old fillies, had by the 1830s become a race of major prestige.
The substantial prize value of £2,850 underscores the expanding financial and social significance of the turf in early Victorian Britain. Images of Classic winners such as Industry served not only as souvenirs of notable victories but also as visual affirmations of breeding, ownership, and status. Sporting art; aquatint; British racing history; equine portraiture; nineteenth-century printmaking.
References:
Siltzer, F. Capt., The Story of British Sporting Prints. 1924 London: p.149.
Siltzer, F. Capt., The Story of British Sporting Prints. 1924 London: p.149.
John Frederick Herring (1795 - 1802)
One of the most celebrated English sporting and animal painters of the c.19th, particularly renowned for his depictions of racehorses, rural life, and stable scenes. He was born on 18 September 1795 in London, the son of a Dutch immigrant father. Although he received little formal artistic training, his early familiarity with horses came through practical experience rather than academic study.
In his youth Herring worked as a coachman and sign painter in Doncaster, Yorkshire. His deep knowledge of equine anatomy and character developed during these years, when he spent time sketching horses at local inns and at the famous Doncaster race meetings. His accurate likenesses of notable racehorses soon attracted patrons, and by the 1820s he had established a reputation as a specialist sporting artist. His early success was closely linked to the booming culture of British horse racing, and many of his works portrayed Derby and St Leger winners, often commissioned by owners.
A major turning point came in the 1830s when he moved to London and gained the patronage of aristocratic and royal clients. In 1845 Queen Victoria appointed him Animal Painter to the Duchess of Kent, a mark of high recognition that solidified his professional standing. Although best known for racehorses, Herring’s output broadened considerably during his mature period. He produced numerous rural genre scenes, farmyard subjects, and picturesque landscapes with cattle, sheep, and cart horses. These later works, often warmly coloured and richly detailed, appealed strongly to Victorian tastes for nostalgic visions of the countryside.
Herring worked in oil and watercolour, and his compositions were widely disseminated through engravings, which expanded his popularity among the middle classes. His style combined careful observation with a pleasing narrative quality; animals are depicted with individuality and vitality, while settings are rendered with a gentle, idealised realism rather than strict topographical precision.
He settled at Meopham Park in Kent in his later years, where he continued to paint prolifically. His work remains important within the tradition of British sporting art, representing a bridge between the great eighteenth-century animal painters such as George Stubbs and the popular Victorian school of rural genre and equestrian painting.
