John Corbet and the Warwickshire Foxhounds
Thomas Weaver (Worthen 1774 - Much Woolton 1843)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1812 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
696 x 902 mm (27 3/8 x 35 1/2 in)
Place of origin
Warwickshire
Order this imageCollection
Upton House, Warwickshire
NT 446712
Caption
John Corbet is shown in the centre of the composition, with his huntsman, Will Barrow, and a hunt servant at the gate. John Corbet of Sundorne Castle took up the role of Master of the Warwickshire Hunt in 1791. He was known as ‘Father of the Trojans’, a reference to the famous hound in his pack, who is said to be the leading dog in the picture. In 1811 he was succeeded in the mastership by the 6th Lord Middleton, who paid 1,200 guineas for the pack. The fact that the picture is dated 1812 and was in the collection of Lord Middleton may imply that it was commissioned as a portrait to commemorate Courbet’s association with the hunt.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, John Corbet and the Warwickshire Foxhounds, by Thomas Weaver (1774-1843), signed and dated T. Weaver pinxt 1812. A full-length portrait riding in the centre foreground of a landscape, mounted on a grey horse, waving on hounds; left, behind him, the huntsman, Will Barrow, and a hunt servant at a gate; in the distance members of the hunt can be seen.
Provenance
Given with Upton House to the National Trust by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882 – 1948), in 1948, shortly before his death
Credit line
Upton House, The Bearsted Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
T. Weaver pinxt 1812 (signed and dated)
Makers and roles
Thomas Weaver (Worthen 1774 - Much Woolton 1843), artist