The Drummer of His Majesty's First Life Guards
Sir Alfred James Munnings, RA (Medham 1878 – Dedham 1959)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1922 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
851 x 902 mm (33 1/2 x 35 1/2 in)
Place of origin
Buckingham Palace
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 515457
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Drummer of His Majesty's First Life Guards, by Sir Alfred James Munnings, RA (Medham 1878 – Dedham 1959), signed and dated A.J. Munnings 1922. A side view of the drummer, turned to right, of His Majesty’s First Life Guards with drums and drum-cloths, mounted on a skewbald horse standing outside the courtyard railing in front of Buckingham Palace. Label on frame 'Drum Horse, First Life Guards. A.J. Munnings RA. Painted 1922. The painting, for which this is a sketch, was commissioned by Sir George Holford, who had previously presented the horse to his regiment, the First Life Guards. This sketch was produced at the Albany Street Barracks for Holford and the later larger version was presented to the officers. Holford originally paid Munnings £150 for the sketch, it was auctioned after Sir George's death for £1200.
Provenance
This sketch produced at the Albany Street Barracks for Sir George Lindsay Holford (1860 - 1926) and the later larger version was presented to the officers. Munnings was paid £150 for it; Sir George Holford Sale, Christies 1928, sold for £1200, bought by Leggatt; 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 and dated: A.J.Munnings 1922 Recto: Inscribed tablet affixed to bottom of frame: Drum Horse, First Life Guards. A. J. Munnings, R.A. Painted 1922. Exhibited at Burlington House 1956, No. 38. [or 88]
Makers and roles
Sir Alfred James Munnings, RA (Medham 1878 – Dedham 1959), artist
References
Works by [36] recently deceased R.A. members, Royal Academy, 9th January-4th March 1922, No.665 (final painting) A. J. Munnings, Exhibition, Castle Museum Norwich, Aug 16 - 30 Sept, 1928, No. 34, (‘The Drummer’) and finished painting, No. 94 and illus. p.15 Sir Alfred Munnings, Royal Academy, 1956, No.88 Munnings, 1951: Sir Alfred Munnings, The Second Burst, 1951, pp.218-9: Bury 1960 Adrian Bury, ‘Memories of Munnings. A Great English Painter’, The British Racehorse, vol. XII, No. 2, July 1960, pp.132-139 & repd. p.133; p.133. Booth, 1978: Stanley Booth, Sir Alfred Munnings 1878-1959: An Appreciation of the Artist and a Selection of His Paintings, 1978 , p.140, repd. 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, illus p.46: