Suffolk Mare and Foal
Dame Laura Knight (Long Eaton, Derbyshire 1877 – St. John’s Wood 1970)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1940
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
800 x 980 mm
Place of origin
Sussex
Order this imageCollection
Sutton Hoo, Suffolk
NT 1433853
Summary
Oil painting, Suffolk Mare and Foal, Dame Laura Knight RA, 1940. A foal and mare in a paddock with farm buildings in the background. The painting was given to the Suffolk Horse Society by Mrs Brenda Brotherton, in memory of her cousin Miss Eileen Margaret Unwin who commissioned the painting, and depicts the Suffolk mare Parham Prunella and her foal Palmers Miss Muffett. The mare had been bought in foal from J.W. Gray of Moat Hall, Parham, near Framlingham and the stallion was Euston Valentine.Laura Knight was a friend of Mrs Brotherton and Miss Unwin and painted the picture at Miss Unwin's farm, Palmers, Billinghurst, Sussex in 1940. The painting is in the frame selected for it by the artist before it was exhibited at the Royal Academy. Miss Unwin had been encouraged to buy the mare by the Dowager Lady Loder of Leonardslee, Horsham, who had a large stud of Suffolk horses. (Information from Philip Ryder-Davies.)
Provenance
Commissioned by Miss Eileen Margaret Unwin in 1940, the painting was given to the Suffolk Horse Society in 1991 for its museum in Woodbridge, Suffolk by Miss Unwin's cousin Mrs Brenda Brotherton. Upon the closure of the Suffolk Horse Society Museum in 2013 the painting was given to Sutton Hoo, National Trust, in accordance with the terms of Mrs Brotherton's Deed of Gift.
Makers and roles
Dame Laura Knight (Long Eaton, Derbyshire 1877 – St. John’s Wood 1970) , artist