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Lot Essay
The youngest of the three famous "Pillars of the Stud Book" from which all modern racing thoroughbreds descend, the Godolphin Arabian sired more foals than either the Byerley Turk or the Darley Arabian. It was imported to England in 1730 to improve the quality of English racing stock, adding Arab speed to English stamina.
The Godolphin was a dark bay, foaled in 1724, and imported from France in 1730 by Edward "Neddy" Coke of Longford Hall, Derbyshire. The horse's stable name was Sham or shami, and it has been suggested he was one of four Arabs given to King Louis XV in 1730 by the Bey of Tunis. This is supported by the description given by the Vicomte de Marly of one of these horses, subsequently sold to England: 'The horse was called Shami, a bay-brown with reddish mottles and a very little white on the hind feet, of beautiful conformation exquisitely proportioned with large hocks well let down, with legs of iron and unequalled lightness of forehand - a horse of incomparable beauty whose only flaw was being headstrong' (Lady Wentworth, Thoroughbred Racing Stock, 1938, pp.222-223).
The Godolphin Arabian was painted by John Wootton in 1731, suggesting his early fame on arrival in England, and portraits of the Godolphin continued to be popular throughout the eighteenth century. The present portrait type is thought to derive from an original by David Morier (c.1705-1770), although the whereabouts of this Morier is now unknown. Other paintings after this type exist by Thomas Butler (fl.1750-1759) and, indeed, a second by Quigley, now in the National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket (see Hilary Bracegirdle, A Concise History of British Horseracing, 1999, p.24). George Stubbs, A.R.A. (1724-1806) also painted two versions of this famous stallion.
Daniel Quigley is currently the only recorded Irish sporting artist of the mid-18th century (see M.A. Wingfield, A Dictionary of Sporting Artists 1650-1990, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1992, p.231). Probably his best known painting is The Carriage Match made by the Earls of March and Eglington with Theobald Taafe and Andrew Sprowle, one version of which was previously in the Hamilton Palace Collection. Quigley was patronised by Windham Quin (1717-1789) of Adare, and a group of five Quigleys exist of racehorses and jockeys in Quin colours, standing on the Curragh racecourse, of which three were sold by Christie's from Adare Manor, Ireland, 9 June 1982, lots 60-62.
The Godolphin was a dark bay, foaled in 1724, and imported from France in 1730 by Edward "Neddy" Coke of Longford Hall, Derbyshire. The horse's stable name was Sham or shami, and it has been suggested he was one of four Arabs given to King Louis XV in 1730 by the Bey of Tunis. This is supported by the description given by the Vicomte de Marly of one of these horses, subsequently sold to England: 'The horse was called Shami, a bay-brown with reddish mottles and a very little white on the hind feet, of beautiful conformation exquisitely proportioned with large hocks well let down, with legs of iron and unequalled lightness of forehand - a horse of incomparable beauty whose only flaw was being headstrong' (Lady Wentworth, Thoroughbred Racing Stock, 1938, pp.222-223).
The Godolphin Arabian was painted by John Wootton in 1731, suggesting his early fame on arrival in England, and portraits of the Godolphin continued to be popular throughout the eighteenth century. The present portrait type is thought to derive from an original by David Morier (c.1705-1770), although the whereabouts of this Morier is now unknown. Other paintings after this type exist by Thomas Butler (fl.1750-1759) and, indeed, a second by Quigley, now in the National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket (see Hilary Bracegirdle, A Concise History of British Horseracing, 1999, p.24). George Stubbs, A.R.A. (1724-1806) also painted two versions of this famous stallion.
Daniel Quigley is currently the only recorded Irish sporting artist of the mid-18th century (see M.A. Wingfield, A Dictionary of Sporting Artists 1650-1990, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1992, p.231). Probably his best known painting is The Carriage Match made by the Earls of March and Eglington with Theobald Taafe and Andrew Sprowle, one version of which was previously in the Hamilton Palace Collection. Quigley was patronised by Windham Quin (1717-1789) of Adare, and a group of five Quigleys exist of racehorses and jockeys in Quin colours, standing on the Curragh racecourse, of which three were sold by Christie's from Adare Manor, Ireland, 9 June 1982, lots 60-62.