Lot Essay
In his autobiography, Munnings muses about his memories of characters met in a bar in Norwich, one of whom was Dicky Dowson, a bookmaker. "Dowson lived in a house built with gaines from the turf--known as 'Mug's Hall.' He possessed a certain refinement, wore a gold ring with a diamond, and gold pince-nez glasses, and rode a chestnut called Firebrand, which he bought from John Cooke for a great deal of money." (A. Munnings, An Artist's Life, Bungay, 1950, p. 255)