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Lot Essay
Rich Gift by Saxham out of Berne was owned by Lady Torrington. In 1917, he won the Red Cross Plate; in 1918, the Bretby Welter Handicap and the Ditch Mile Welter Handicap at Newmarket; in 1919, several races including the Great Cheshire Handicap at Chester and the Chipstead Plate at Epsom. In 1920, he won the Great Cheshire for the second time and was retired.
This picture was painted in late 1920 and was an extremely important commission for the artist. "My thoughts are now of Rich Gift, a dark-brown, handsome horse. His owner was Lady Torrington. Although not a great horse, he was a good looker and won races and was a lady's pet and pride, and the great Donoghue used to ride him... One day a letter came from Lady Torrington forwarded to my inn, the White Hart, saying that she was sending the horse to Dedham! The next letter said the horse had been sent! Then came news from my wife--Rich Gift had arrived in horse-box with the lad!... Rich Gift, my first aristocratic visitor at Castle House, was an inspiration... In October sun, day after day, at the farther end of one of my paddocks, with a large canvas screen as background to the horse, I painted without interruption. He was no longer a star standing for his portrait but a model from which I was learning." (ibid., pps. 110-112)
The large version of Rich Gift (42 x 51 in.) is in the collection of the Los Angeles Turf Club, Santa Anita and another sketch is at the Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum, Castle House, Dedham (S. Booth, Sir Alfred Munnings, London, 1978, p. 133, illustrated).
This picture was painted in late 1920 and was an extremely important commission for the artist. "My thoughts are now of Rich Gift, a dark-brown, handsome horse. His owner was Lady Torrington. Although not a great horse, he was a good looker and won races and was a lady's pet and pride, and the great Donoghue used to ride him... One day a letter came from Lady Torrington forwarded to my inn, the White Hart, saying that she was sending the horse to Dedham! The next letter said the horse had been sent! Then came news from my wife--Rich Gift had arrived in horse-box with the lad!... Rich Gift, my first aristocratic visitor at Castle House, was an inspiration... In October sun, day after day, at the farther end of one of my paddocks, with a large canvas screen as background to the horse, I painted without interruption. He was no longer a star standing for his portrait but a model from which I was learning." (ibid., pps. 110-112)
The large version of Rich Gift (42 x 51 in.) is in the collection of the Los Angeles Turf Club, Santa Anita and another sketch is at the Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum, Castle House, Dedham (S. Booth, Sir Alfred Munnings, London, 1978, p. 133, illustrated).