Lot 134
Lot 134
Lot Details
Philip Reinagle, R.A.
Edinburgh 1749–1833 London
A pair of greyhounds in a landscape
oil on canvas
unframed: 50.5 x 76.5 cm.; 19 7/8 x 30 1/4 in.
framed: 66 x 91.5 cm.; 26 x 36 in.
Condition Report
The relined oil on canvas is in a very good and clean condition. No damage or obvious retouching is visible with the naked eye. Examination with ultraviolet light indicates that there has been some strengthening in the background right in the centre of the canvas. It also shows retouching along the craquelure of the dog on the right. There appears to be retouching along all the edges of the canvas where it meets the frame. There are small areas of retouching in the bottom right of the canvas. There are also some subtle retouchings in the craquelure of the sky.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.
Provenance
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 10 April 1992, lot 71, for £12,650 (as a pair);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 25 March 1994, lot 15, for £17,250 (as a pair).
Catalogue Note
This work was produced by one of the foremost painters of animals in Georgian England, Philip Reinagle, R.A. (1749–1833). Reinagle was only second to the great George Stubbs when it came to the painting animals in a sensitive manner. His paintings of dogs, within atmospheric backgrounds, have received great interest since their completion two centuries ago. A set of eleven such paintings, smaller than the present lot, were completed for The Sportsman's Cabinet publication by the English veterinary surgeon William Taplin and sold in these rooms 13 November 1991, lots 104–113.
The Sportsman's Repository, another publication dating to 1820 to which Reinagle contributed Greyhounds, records that 'The greyhound is of a beautiful and delicate formation for speed and majestic attraction; if a metaphorical allusion may by made between the human and the brute creation, the allegory would not be too far extended in considering the greyhound, for his appearance, equanimity, mildness and affability, one of the superior classes of his own society.'1
Alongside publishers, aristocratic patrons too would commission the artist to capture their favoured animals in an appropriate setting. A similar view of pointers stalking grouse in a landscape, showing the dogs of Lord Middleton and dated to 1792, was sold in these Rooms, 6 July 1977, lot 55.
1 R. Duthy, 'An Affair of the Heart', in Countryweek, October 1991, p. 60.