John and Andrew Corbet on two hunters, with a terrier, in an extensive landscape

John Corbet of Sunborne near Shrewsbury (1751-1817) was one of the earliest masters of the Shrewsbury Hunt, founded in 1767, and one of the first scientific breeders of foxhounds. Shropshire was not ideal hunting country, and in 1751 Corbet left to take on the mastership of the Warwickshire Hunt. He hunted the entire county - forty miles long and twenty miles wide - at his own expense, for twenty years and with his huntsman Will Barrow achieved almost legendary fame.
As well as his skills in the hunting field, Corbet is also credited with the founding of the annual hunt ball.
His portrait was painted in Rome in 1775 by Pompeo Batoni during his Grand Tour. He was also painted in a hunting trio by Thomas Stringer in 1775, now in the Mellon Collection at Yale, and also by Thomas Weaver. This last portrait was engraved by Richard Woodman and published in 1814.