EQUESTRIAN  PAINTING

Art for All sounds like a modern slogan. The idea is that objects of quality shouldn't only be for an elite who can afford it. Everyone should be able to have a taste of good things. But in fact the idea is far from new. Centuries ago furniture or paintings made for kings and palaces was copied by craftsmen and artists working for humbler patrons. Such

pieces are called provincial or country. They may not be as splendid and ornate as their cousins in castles and stately homes, but they often have a native charm which is very appealing. Lowestoft porcelain lacks the

near-perfection of Meissen, the choice of princes, but its local charm gives it great appeal. Similarly, George Stubbs may be one of the greatest painters of horses, but on another level there were many others whose work has a native charm which has its own special qualities. Some of these lesser painters never achieved great fame or fortune, but

made a living by travelling the country and painting the favourite horses of lesser gentry and farmers. Often their work is not signed, though the name of the horse is sometimes included in the picture. It is frequently

recorded on a name board on the stable wall. The initials of the owner are often seen on the horse blanket.

Two of these equestrian pictures were included in Horners' Acle auction on 24^th October. Painted in the mid C19th by an artist named Hally, known also to have painted cavalry horses, they both depict a bay in a stable, one with saddle and bridle. There is no name board on the stable walls, but the initials of the owner are as usual on the blanket. From a Suffolk property, it is likely that these paintings had always been in East Anglia. One can only conjecture that these two horses had a special

place in the affections of their Victorian owner. A century and a half later they still have their own particular charm.