Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 18

Harry Hall
19th Century sporting horse portrait oil painting of the racehorse Blink Bonny

1857

About the Item

Harry Hall British, (1815-1882) Blink Bonny Oil on canvas, signed & dated 1857 Image size: 25 inches x 31 inches Size including frame: 32.25 inches x 38.25 inches This well executed sporting horse portrait by Harry Hall is of the famous racehorse Blink Bonny. It is one of a number of portraits he painted of the horse. Blink Bonny was a bay mare foaled in 1854, sired by Melbourne and out of Old Queen Mary. She was owned and bred by Mr William I’Anson who was from Gullane, Scotland but moved to Spring Cottage in Malton, North Yorkshire where he set up the Malton Stables. Blink Bonny won the 1857 Derby ridden by Johnnie Charlton with a time of 2 minutes and 45 seconds. She also won The Oaks in the same year. The stables were later named the Blink Bonny Stud in her honour. I’Anson bred a number of successful race horses which also included Blair Athol, also out of Old Queen Mary. After Blink Bonny died her skeleton was preserved and given to York Museum by I’Anson. Harry Hall was born in Cambridge in 1815 to Henry and Marie Hall (née Prior). He was christened Henry Hall on 10 September 1815, but went by the name of Harry for most of his life. His father worked as a butler at St John’s College, Cambridge and the family lived nearby at Jesus Lane and later All Saints Passage. Little has been found about his early education, but he is known to have left Cambridge to study at Pavis’s School of Art in London for a short time. He remained in London living at 14, Portland Terrace, St. John's Wood from where he made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1838. He also later exhibited at the British Institution and the Royal Society of British Artists. Hall began working for Tattersalls, the race horse auctioneers based at Hyde Park Corner, They owned a number of publications including British Racehorses and The Sporting Review and he produced illustrations for several of them. He also worked for The Illustrated London News and The Field, becoming their chief artist. The Sporting Magazine published 114 plates by him. By 1839, he had moved to Newmarket where he set himself up as an animal and portrait painter based on the High Street. He began specialising in sporting paintings and made a name for himself by painting the Derby winners for 43 consecutive years. He married Ellen Ann Payne on 16 September 1841 at All Saints Church, Newmarket. The couple had 8 children together and one of their sons, Sydney Prior Hall (1842-1922), who he named after his mother’s family, became a portrait painter and illustrator. Although he was based at Newmarket High Street for many years, he was often away from home; one of the factors which may have precipitated the formal separation from his wife. Towards the end of his life lived at Audley House, close to the training stables and gallops of Newmarket, where he died on 22 April, 1882. His work is held in many public collections including the Danum Gallery, English Heritage, Government Art Collection, Laing Art Gallery, National Trust, National Horseracing Museum, Regimental Museum of 13th/18th Royal Hussars (QMO) and The Light Dragoons, Towneley Hall Art Gallery, The Wilson, Weston Park and the Yale Centre for British Art. Presentation: The painting is housed in a new, English made gilt frame which is in excellent condition. Condition: As with all of our original antique oil paintings, this work is offered in ready to hang gallery condition, having been professionally cleaned, restored and revarnished. © Benton Fine Art
  • Creator:
    Harry Hall (1814 - 1882, English)
  • Creation Year:
    1857
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 32.25 in (81.92 cm)Width: 38.25 in (97.16 cm)Depth: 2.25 in (5.72 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Nr Broadway, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU156212948582
More From This SellerView All
You May Also Like
  • "A River Landscape with Wild Horses", Victorian original, oil on canvas
    By John Frederick Herring Jr
    Located in Nutfield, Surrey
    This is an original unique oil painting by the artist. Born into an artistic family in Doncaster, England during 1820. Best known for his equine art, of the same character as those of the elder Herring, including "The Home Farm," "The Homestead," "The Farm-Yard," etc.John F. Herring, Jr. was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire c.1820, to the well-known 19th-century artist John Frederick Herring, Sr. (1795-1865), who at the time, was considered one of England's great Sporting and Equestrian artists, patronized by the English aristocracy. The father's mastery of the brush, and popularity with the nobility, served his son, Herring, Jr., well. Early on, John, Jr. was exposed to fine painting and wealthy patrons. Recent reference books state that Herring, Sr.'s first child was named "John Frederick Herring, Jr." and was born on June 21, 1815. John Herring, Jr. developed a love for painting, a passion also shared by his brothers Charles and Benjamin. Three of the four brothers became artists, painting in the same style as their father, often collaborating on a single painting. In the years after 1836, Herring, Sr., feeling threatened by the teenage John Herring, Jr.'s ability and growing popularity, began incorporating the tag "SR" at the end of his signature. John Herring, Jr. continued painting in the tradition of his father, the sporting and animal pictures...
    Category

    19th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • English Victorian 19th century portrait of a brown and white Spaniel dog
    By George Earl
    Located in Woodbury, CT
    George Earl was a painter, primarily of sporting dogs and other animals. He was also the father of Maud Earl and Percy Earl, and the brother of Thomas Earl, all three of whom were al...
    Category

    1850s Victorian Animal Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • English 19th century forest landscape with horses in the New Forest Hampshire UK
    By William Bradley
    Located in Woodbury, CT
    English landscape painter from the 1870's who exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institute in London. He mostly painted in watercolors and this example would have been p...
    Category

    1860s Victorian Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • Early 20th century English Fox Hounds, Huntsmen &, horse and cart in landscape
    By Edward Algernon Stuart Douglas
    Located in Woodbury, CT
    Early 20th-century English oil painting with the subject taken from one of Robert Bloomfield's poems, The Farmers Boy. "E'en Sober Dobbin lifts his clumsy heel, and kicks, disdainful of the dirty wheel Edward Algernon Stuart Douglas...
    Category

    Early 1900s Victorian Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • Antique 19th century English, pair of Huntsman riding with hounds in a landscape
    By John Frederick Herring Jr
    Located in Woodbury, CT
    John Frederick Herring Junior, Antique 19th century English, pair of Huntsman riding with hounds in a landscape. John Frederick Herring Jnr. was a painter of sporting and animal s...
    Category

    1860s Victorian Animal Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Wood Panel, Canvas

  • Antique 19th century English, Cart Horses in a farmyard landscape with cottage.
    By John Frederick Herring Jr
    Located in Woodbury, CT
    John Frederick Herring Junior, Antique 19th century English, Cart Horses in a farmyard landscape with cottage. John Frederick Herring Jnr. was a painter of sporting and animal subjects in oil and watercolor. His style was very similar to that of his father, John Frederick Herring Snr...
    Category

    1860s Victorian Animal Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All