A bay hunter (recto); and Bedale Truman (verso)

These are studies for John J. Moubray, Master of Foxhounds, dismounted with his wife (private collection) which was painted in Yorkshire in 1920. The horse is that ridden by his wife and the hound is one of the two main hounds featured in the final work. The Bedale Hunt kennels are located in Northallerton, Yorkshire. Moubray was from Naemoor, Perthshire and succeeded the Duke of Leeds as the M.F.H. of the Bedale in 1904-5, having hunted for many seasons with the Bedale since he married a local Yorkshire girl Miss Booth in 1893.

Munnings recalled the commission and his trip to Yorkshire in his memoirs, '..the painting of the large Bedale picture comes to my mind....Mr. Mowbray [sic], Master of the Bedale, was the living image of what we all expect "John Bull" to be. He was, without question, the best type of Englishman I ever saw. Both he and his wife came to London for sittings, and after that I went to stay at the Catterick Bridge Hotel to paint horses and hounds. From there he showed me that part of the Yorkshire country in his car......I admired Mr. Mowbray, and I shall not forget him as long as I retain one vestige of memory.' (The Second Burst, Bungay, 1951, pp. 142-3).

This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Sir Alfred Munnings being prepared by Lorian Peralta-Ramos.