William Henry Hunt, O.W.S. (1790-1864)

A boy with a begging dog

Details

William Henry Hunt, O.W.S. (1790-1864)
A boy with a begging dog
indistinctly signed 'W. HUNT.' (lower right)
pencil and watercolour, with scratching out
10 x 7.3/8 in. (27.3 x 18.6 cm.)

Provenance

possibly John Dillon; Christie's London, 17 April 1869, lot 27 (96 gns. to Vokins.).
Mr Evansburg, by whom sold to
Richard Haworth, Blackburn, from whom purchased by J. Haydock, Blackburn, 1927.
Mrs Cecil Keith.
with Agnew's, London, 1984.
with Fry Gallery, London.

Literature

C. Englund, 'Constructed Naturalism in the Watercolours of William Henry Hunt', The Huntington Library Quarterly, Winter 1990, pp. 67-85, illustrated p. 74.

Exhibited

London, Agnew's, The Selling Exhibition of Mrs. Cecil Keith's Collection of Watercolours, May, 1984.

Lot Essay

The present watercolour has also been known as Good Dog and Boy with a Dog. The boy portrayed is John Swain (see lot 98) and the yellow hat is a studio prop which appears in several other watercolours painted by Hunt in the 1830s.

A study for the dog is in the collection of the Huntington Library and Art Galleries, San Marino, California, purchased in 1959 as part of the Gilbert Davis collection.

We are grateful to Craig Englund for his help preparing this catalogue entry.

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