Sir John Barker-Mill and his hounds at Mottisfont Abbey
George Cole (London 1810 - London 1883)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1839 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil Paint, Canvas
Measurements
1720 x 2440 mm
Place of origin
Mottisfont Abbey
Order this imageCollection
Mottisfont, Hampshire
NT 1955140
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Sir John Barker-Mill and his hounds at Mottisfont Abbey, by George Cole (1810-1883), signed and dated 1839. View of the grounds at Mottisfont Abbey showing the house and stable block. In the foreground, three men on horseback wearing red and black hunting coats and surrounded by a large pack of hounds.
Full description
The Rev. Sir John Barker-Mill (1803-1860) inherited the Mottisfont Abbey estate on the death of his cousin Sir Charles Mill (1765-1835) in 1835. After taking residence, he spent large amounts of money on the house and the wider grounds, including a new stable block. Sir John used the estate to indulge his sporting passions, in particular, hunting and horse racing. For hunting, he purchased the Sandbeck Hounds and took over the hunting rights to the west of the Itchen River in Hampshire, although he had given them up by 1839. This was possibly because his horse racing had taken over in his priorities, and his horses were regularly involved in races at Stockbridge Racecourse which formed part of his estates. They also competed won other trophies at meets across England. To celebrate his inheritance and also the new building work which he had completed, Sir John commissioned the young Portsmouth-born artist George Cole (1810-1883) to come and paint several pictures for him. These included several paintings of his racing horses with views of the new stables and kennels which he had built for his sporting pursuits. This painting, however, was the major part of the commission, showing Sir John indulging in his passions along with views of his inheritance and new buildings. Cole has painted Sir John showing the western façade of Mottisfont Abbey, with the terrace outside what was is now the Whistler Room clearly visible. On the left of the painting Sir John's classical stable block with its cupola and clock are also visible, while on the right a view of a now lost building in the Abbey Farmyard can be seen. Sir John is portrayed as having led his hounds out of their kennels in the farmyard, presumably to head off hunting. On its completion in 1839, this painting was placed in pride of place above the fireplace in the entrance hall to the property, remaining there until its sale along with the other contents in 1933.
Provenance
Commissioned by Sir John Barker-Mill for Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire in 1839 and by descent to Peter Claude Vaudrey Barker-Mill; his sale, Sotheby's, 5 July 1933 [Lot 122]; Messrs Ellis & Smith, London; their sale, Christies, 25 May 1934 [Lot 121]; purchased by 'Shenley'. Acquired by a Belgian diplomat [?Hemeleer] in London on 8 December 1944 and by descent. Galerie Moderne SA, Brussels, 22 April 2024 [Lot 214] where purchased by the National Trust.
Makers and roles
George Cole (London 1810 - London 1883), artist
References
Hope 1950: J. F. R. Hope, A History of Hunting in Hampshire, Winchester, 1950, pp.253-255 Æsop 1864: Æsop, Sporting Reminiscences of Hampshire from 1745 to 1862, London, 1864, p.216 Raper 2006: Anthony C. Raper, Days at The Races; A History of the Stockbridge Racecourse and the Day and Cannon Families that ran it, Andover, 2006., p.36 Barringer 1988: T. J. Barringer, The Cole Family: Painters of the English Landscape 1838-1975, Portsmouth, 1988.