Horses feeding with two ornamental pigeons at a manger

Having made his reputation painting the most celebrated racehorses of the early nineteenth-century, Herring developed his subject matter towards the end of his career to include narrative subjects depicting horses and farmyard scenes such as the present work. While quite different from his early work, these pictures proved to be immensely popular. By 1850, when the present work was completed, Herring had been appointed painter to the Duchess of Kent, and had received commissions from Queen Victoria.