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1 of 253523 objects
A Grey Horse Signed and dated 1793
Oil on canvas | 102.5 x 127.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 400510
George Stubbs (1724-1806)
A Grey Horse Signed and dated 1793
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The Royal Collection holds an important group of paintings by George Stubbs; all of them were acquired by George IV when Prince of Wales and all of them (with the exception of OM 1115, 400512) were sent in 1822 from Carlton House to the King’s Lodge (later Royal Lodge) in Windsor Great Park, presumably as an appropriate setting for sporting paintings. In 1793 Thomas Allwood presented a bill to the Prince for £110 16s, for ‘Carving & Gilding eight Picture frames of half length size [40 x 50 inches] for sundry Pictures painted by Mr Stubbs’. This is one of thirteen paintings in the collection of these dimensions (40 x 50 inches), all in identical frames and all dated between 1790 and 1793 (OM 1109-12, 1115-8, 1122-6, 400142, 400106, 400995, 400997, 400512, 400560, 400994, 400587, 400510, 400562, 400943, 405001, 400549). It is not possible to say which were the eight mentioned in Allwood’s bill, and how they might have been grouped; but they all seem to have been conceived loosely as a set. This painting does seem to belong to a pair (OM 1122-3, 400510 and 400562) depicting the same horse, which has been identified as Grey Trentham, a thoroughbred belonging to the Earl of Egremont who raced successfully during the years 1791-4. A grey horse at full-length cantering in profile to the right, wearing a bridle, in a grassy landscape with a wood to the rear left above which are stormy grey clouds. It is possible to see with the naked eye that Stubbs once placed a rider on this horse which he has painted out.
Provenance
Presumably painted for George IV; recorded in store at Carlton House in 1816 (no. 414) and 1819 (no 402); taken to the King's Lodge (Royal Lodge) in Windsor Park in 1822; in Cumberland Lodge in 1844
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
102.5 x 127.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
131.8 x 157.3 x 9.1 cm (frame, external)