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Lot Essay
Inscribed on the stretcher at a later date is the following description, 'Mar Lodge The Hart Samson 14 Hds and the Hind Delilah 11 Hds with the calf Judith/Bred in Duff House Parks Forest of Mar by the Rgt. Honb Earl of Fife/The Greatest and heaviest Hart and Hind on the whole Kingdom of Britain/R. Ansdell Pinxt 1839/Duff House/Bequest of the Earl of Fife/1860'. It is probable that this was transcribed from the reverse of the canvas prior to relining.
Duff House was built by William Braco and designed by William Adam (1689-1748), the foremost country house architect in Scotland. The same year he acquired the Mar Estate in Aberdeenshire and in due course his descendant would build Mar Lodge. The original design was never finished due to disputes about building responsibility arose. The central block, a roofed shell, was left unfinished by Lord Braco, who never took up residence, even though he was further advanced in peerage to Earl Fife in 1759. It was his heir, James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, who made Duff House habitable and who built up a large library and a fine collection of paintings. Succeeding members of the Duff family thereafter used Duff House as one of their residences until the middle of the 19th century when James, 5th Earl Fife and his wife, Lady Agnes Hay, began to bring the interiors up to date. Their son Alexander who, as 6th Earl Fife, in 1889 married Princess Louise, the eldest daughter of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Alexander became the last non- royal individual in the United Kingdom to receive a Dukedom, granted to him by Queen Victoria on the morning of his marriage. The 1st Duke and Duchess of Fife did not make frequent use of Duff House. The Duchess preferred Mar Lodge, which was rebuilt in 1895, and much more convenient when the Royal Family were at Balmoral.
Duff House was built by William Braco and designed by William Adam (1689-1748), the foremost country house architect in Scotland. The same year he acquired the Mar Estate in Aberdeenshire and in due course his descendant would build Mar Lodge. The original design was never finished due to disputes about building responsibility arose. The central block, a roofed shell, was left unfinished by Lord Braco, who never took up residence, even though he was further advanced in peerage to Earl Fife in 1759. It was his heir, James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, who made Duff House habitable and who built up a large library and a fine collection of paintings. Succeeding members of the Duff family thereafter used Duff House as one of their residences until the middle of the 19th century when James, 5th Earl Fife and his wife, Lady Agnes Hay, began to bring the interiors up to date. Their son Alexander who, as 6th Earl Fife, in 1889 married Princess Louise, the eldest daughter of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Alexander became the last non- royal individual in the United Kingdom to receive a Dukedom, granted to him by Queen Victoria on the morning of his marriage. The 1st Duke and Duchess of Fife did not make frequent use of Duff House. The Duchess preferred Mar Lodge, which was rebuilt in 1895, and much more convenient when the Royal Family were at Balmoral.