Leading Ponies along a Road

One of Munnings most important early subjects was the white pony Augereau. "One afternoon George (Curzon) persuaded me to let him drive me up to Norwich, five miles off, and go to the Theatre Royal... Among the characters in that play ('A Royal Divorce') is Marshal Augereau, who continually exclaims, 'I swear it on the word of an Augereau.' This sentence so impressed itself on our minds that after some refreshemnt we sent the pony along on our return jounrney at a good pace in the moonlight, and if he flagged, gave him one, calling out, 'I swear it on the word of an Augereau!'... Thus he was named." (A. J. Munnings, An Artist's Life Bungay, 1950, pp. 199-200)

Augereau and George Curzon were also the subjects of On the Road which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1908 (formerly in the Hardy Collection; sale, Christie's London, 9 November 1989, lot 159). Another small canvas dated 1907 depicting the same scene as this painting, but from another vantage point, was exhibited at the Castle Museum, Norwich in 1928 (sold, Christie's London, 6 November 1992, lot 16).