Lot 70: JOHN WOOTTON

PROPERTY FROM THE WILLIAM M. HACKMAN TRUST

BRITISH, 1686-1765
THE PRINCE OF WALES AT A RACE MEETING ON NEWMARKET HEATH

measurements
37 by 58 1/2 in.

alternate measurements
94 by 148.6 cm

signed J. Wootton/ Fecit (lower right)

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

By descent in the family of the Duke of Norfolk
Oscar Johnson
Leggatt's Gallery, London, by 1957
Mr Chistopher Bibby, in 1960

EXHIBITED

London, Rutland Gallery, Paintings by John Wootton, circa 1677-1765, November 13-December 13, 1964, no. 1, illustrated

LITERATURE

Illustrated London News, November 9, 1963, vol. 243, p. 779 (as collection of the Duke of Norfolk)

NOTE

James I established Newmarket in 1605 as the earliest center for racing in England, and cemented the royal connection by building a hunting lodge there. The first race on the heath took place between horses owned by Lord Salisbury and the Marquess of Buckingham in 1622, the prize being one hundred pounds, a princely sum at the time. Charles I officially opened Newmarket Racecourse in 1636, and the royal patronage of the track has continued to the present day, in part due to its relative proximity to the royal residence at Sandringham.

The lure of royal and aristocratic patronage drew John Wootton to Newmarket as early as 1714, where his depictions of the great gatherings at the heath brought him success as well as commissions. The present work depicts the Prince of Wales, seen mounted near the lower right corner of the composition, accompanied by a group of courtiers and liveried attendants, observing the start of the race. The work can be dated to 1716, the year in which another version of this subject was painted for Edward Harley (recorded in a bill dated November 10, 1716). Another version of the work was known from the Collection of Lord Woolavington. The early races at Newmarket were customarily quite long: at least four miles and as long as eight. The stamina required emphasized impeccable breeding, and the celebrated horses of the day came to dominate the proceedings. The series of heats and eliminations that were typical elevated the importance of the rubbing house where horses were prepared for the next leg. By the close of the race, mounted spectators such as those seen in the present work would ride alongside the throng, encouraging participants.

For the next fifty years, Wootton, who has been described as the "Father of British Horse Portraiture," was considered the aristocracy's favorite sporting artist. Wootton enjoyed the patronage of Queen Anne, King George I and his son George II (seen as the Prince of Wales in the present painting) and the Dukes of Beaufort, Devonshire, Richmond and Marlborough; The Earl of Egmont of Althrop even referred to him in his diary as "the best horse painter in England" (Sally Mitchell, The Dictionary of British Equestrian Artists, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1984, p. 469). Wootton studied under the Flemish battle painter, Jan Wyck, transforming his crowded, panoramic battle scenes into equally hard-fought battles of the Turf. Beyond these panoramic landscapes, inspired both by Jan Wyck and Jan Siberechts, Wootton is also renowned for his near life-size depictions of the famous racehorses of his time, including the three illustrious Arabian progenitors of today's thoroughbred lines, the Byerly Turk, the Godolphin Arabian and the Darley Arabian.