A rearing stallion
possibly Italian School
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
c. 1750 - 1900
Materials
Bronze
Measurements
203 mm (Height); 230 mm (Length)
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 515109.1
Summary
Bronze, rearing stallion, possibly Italian School, c. 1750-1900. A bronze statuette of a rearing stallion, ears back, teeth bared, mane tightly hogged, topknot on poll of head. Sits on tail, the end of which has been clipped in the metal. A pair to a very similar horse (NT 515109.2).
Full description
The horse may be executing a dressage movement known as the pesade or posata, in which the animal places all its weight on the hindquarters, tucking in its forelegs. A similar movement may be seen in the rearing horse from the workshop of Ferdinand Tacca at Anglesey Abbey (NT 514991). Of modest quality, the pair of horses are most likely to have been made in the 19th century, but may be a little earlier. Jeremy Warren 2020
Provenance
Acquired by Urban Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) by 1940; identifiable in the Anglesey Abbey inventory 1940, p. 80, Racing Room, valued at £10 the pair; bequeathed to the National Trust by Lord Fairhaven in 1966 with the house and the rest of the contents.
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, The Fairhaven Collection (The National Trust)
Makers and roles
possibly Italian School, sculptor
References
'Anglesey Abbey, Lode, Cambridgeshire. An Inventory and Valuation of Furniture, Books, Ornamental Items & Household Effects .. prepared for Insurance Purposes’, Turner, Lord and Ransom, April 1940, p. 80. Christie, Manson & Woods 1971: The National Trust, Anglesey Abbey, Cambridge. Inventory: Furniture, Textiles, Porcelain, Bronzes, Sculpture and Garden Ornaments’, 1971, p. 129.