The Royal Carriage entering the Long Walk, Windsor on the Return from the Ascot Races, 1925
Sir Alfred James Munnings, RA (Medham 1878 – Dedham 1959)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1925
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
737 x 1016 mm (29 x 40 in)
Place of origin
Windsor
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 515454
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Royal Carriage Entering the Long Walk, Windsor on the Return from the Ascot Races, 1925 by Sir Alfred James Munnings, RA (Medham 1878 – Dedham 1959), signed: A. J. Munnings, 1925. In the open Royal Carriage are King George V, Queen Mary and two princes. The carriage is being drawn by four Windsor Greys and is entering the Long Walk, Windsor Great Park, on the return from Ascot Races in 1925. A large picture on this subject was painted in the summer of 1925 from recollections of the royal processions on the four days of Ascot races, coupled with the painting of individual elements of the compositions from the life in Windsor Park, the picture being painted a part at a time. Only the finishing off was done in the artist's studio. A number of changes were made in the background and in the position of the signature between the work's first showing in the late 1920s and its purchase in 1937. The painting (10 feet long) is now in the Tate Gallery. This large painting was preceded by a preliminary version in which the procession is seen from slightly ahead and the trees extend farther across the background. This is the picture in Anglesey Abbey. These works arose from a commission from Queen Mary which resulted in the painting of another Ascot scene The Procession crossing the Park. Also shown at the Royal Academy was The Royal Carriage waiting for Their Majesties at Duke’s Lane, Windsor Park, on Ascot Gold Cup Day. Label on frame 'The Return from Ascot entering the Long Walk, Windsor Great Park. A.J. Munnings RA 1925. Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1926. Exhibited at Norwich Castle Museum 1928. Exhibited at the British Council Exhibition at Hertford House 1940. Exhibited at Burlington House 1956.'
Provenance
Bequeathed to the National Trust by Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) with the house and the rest of the contents.
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, The Fairhaven Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: Signed: A. J. Munnings Recto: Inscribed gilt tablet affixed to bottom of frame: The Return from Ascot entering the Long Walk, Windsor Great Park. A. J. Munnings, R.A. 1925. Exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1926. Exhibited at Norwich Castle Museum, 1928. Exhibited at the British Council Exhibition at Hertford House, 1940. Exhibited at Burlington House, 1956, No. 89. Recto : Inscribed label affixed to frame: No.89
Makers and roles
Sir Alfred James Munnings, RA (Medham 1878 – Dedham 1959), artist
References
A. J. Munnings, Exhibition, Castle Museum Norwich, Aug 16 - 30 Sept, 1928, No. 29 & p.9; Bunt 1949 Cyril G. E. Bunt, Windsor Castle through Three Centuries, 1949, pp.59, 67, No. 50, Pl. 45: Munnings, 1951: Sir Alfred Munnings, The Second Burst, 1951, [Part 1] Ch. XXXI, ‘Ascot and the Procession’, pp.271-2 & repd. at top of p.281: Munnings, 1951: Sir Alfred Munnings, The Second Burst, 1951, [Part 2] Ch. XXXI, ‘Ascot and the Procession’, pp.271-2 & repd. at top of p.281: Antique Collector, December 1951, p.239 Sir Alfred Munnings, Royal Academy, 1956, No.89 Bury 1960 Adrian Bury, ‘Memories of Munnings. A Great English Painter’, The British Racehorse, vol. XII, No. 2, July 1960, pp.132-139 and reproduced of final version p.134 is incorrectly labelled as in possession of Lord Fairhaven); : Booth, 1978: Stanley Booth, Sir Alfred Munnings 1878-1959: An Appreciation of the Artist and a Selection of His Paintings, 1978 , p.162; Anglesey Abbey, 1990-1992 [The National Trust; Robin Fedden] 1972, revised 1990, reprinted 1992., p.16: Anglesey Abbey, 2006 [The National Trust] 2002, revised 2006, p.8: