Ferretting

Edwin Douglas was the son of James Douglas, a portrait painter. Born in Edinburgh in 1848, he exhibited his first work at the Royal Scottish Academy when he was only seventeen. Douglas' pictures were mainly of a sporting nature. He attracted many notable patrons including Sir Charles Tennant, and Queen Victoria, who purchased a picture of setters as a birthday present for King Edward VII.

William Secord noted in Dog Painting 1840-1940 that Douglas paints dogs 'with soft, sympathetic expressions and often lustrous coats...in the tradition of Landseer.'

A study for this work was sold at Christie's, London, 28 June 1999, lot 65.