LONDON.- A splendid depiction of the South Staffordshire Hunt at Longdon Green, Lichfield, by the renowned equine artist, Lionel Edwards, is the star lot in this year’s Sporting Sale in Edinburgh on 11 November.
The painting was commissioned by the Master of the South Staffordshire Hunt, Arthur Rymond, who is portrayed in the picture on his hunter "Robert". Edwards, a keen hunter himself, stayed with the Rymonds while working on the commission. It is estimated at £20,000-30,000.
The sale is devoted to all things sporting from hunting pictures to stuffed fish, and from trophy antlers to fishing tackle. This is the first time it has been held in Scotland, a tribute to the robustness of the Scottish market according to Bonhams Scotland’s Managing Director, Miranda Grant. “The success of our Scottish sale in August shows the strength of the market at the moment. We are the only international auction house with a strong presence in Scotland and are committed to staging high profile, high quality sales here.”
Among the other highlights is a fine and dramatic painting of an otter hunt (£10,000-15,000) by the acclaimed 19th century animal and sporting artist, Sargent Noble.
The picture, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy, is dated 1875 and is mentioned in Sally Mitchell’s definitive book, 'The Dictionary of British Equestrian Artists,'
The sale also offers a highly collectable selection of cased fish by the well known taxidermist and renowned fisherman, Malloch of Perth. A keen naturalist from childhood, Peter Malloch started his taxidermy business in Perth in 1871 at the age of 18 and it remained a fixture in the town until 1981. Malloch was an authority on salmon and trout and wrote what is still the standard work on their habits and how to fish for them. The sale features two salmon and a trout at estimates of between £1,500–3,000.
As usual, the Sporting Sale has items for all tastes and budgets among them a silver mounted cigarette box with an image of a race horse and rider on the cover (£450 – 500), a gold hunting whistle (£250 – 350) and a splendid Wedgwood Game Tureen (£250 – 300).
