The present picture is perhpas one of the three hunting scenes mentioned in the artist's account books, no. 209, 'V. Maher [sic.] Esq., 1825, #94.10.0'. Two of three pictures commissioned by Valentine Mayer were offered in these Rooms from the H.J. Joel Collection, 13 July 1984, lot 10 Tally Ho! and lot 11 The Kill. While the present picture is wider than either of the Joel pair, which measured 26½ x 63¼in., it is of the same unusual height, and its subject would suggest that it was designed as the central picture of the three. An alternative but less likely commission may be Capt. Horatio Ross who paid the artist the exceptional price of #42 for 'A Hunting Picture' in 1825. In the present picture and the Joel pair though, Mayer is more prominent than Ross.