This early 19th-century oil painting by English artist W.S. Cooper (act. 1832-1834) depicts a bay hunter and groom in a landscape with a hunt beyond.

Once hanging in a proud English country home, this splendid piece from 1832 represents the earliest known work by this little-known artist. It’s set under a dense sky and within an undulant landscape, punctuated by a wattle fence.

Equestrian paintings of this nature were popular with the landed gentry who sought to celebrate their treasured horses and hounds. The inclusion of a distant hunt is an indication of aristocratic pursuits.

Provincial painters, such as W.S. Cooper, often worked solely for local landowners on various commissions and had no requirement to exhibit. As such, most of these are lost to time as very few records exist. Cooper’s best-known oil painting is a ‘View of the Barracks at Fredericton, New Brunswick’, which was painted in 1834 after a lithograph. It was sold via Christie’s in 2015.

Signed/dated in the lower left and held in a later gilt frame.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 40” x 32½” / 102cm x 82cm
Year of creation: 1832
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Cleaned. Canvas relined. Craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. Later stretcher. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Artist’s auction maximum: £12,500 for ‘View of the Barracks at Fredericton, New Brunswick (1834)’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, The Winkworth Collection: A Treasure House of Canadiana in London, London, 1 April 2015 (lot 72).
Our reference: BRV2169