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Lot Essay
This work is a smaller and earlier version of a painting which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1931 and now in an American private collection (see S. Booth, Sir Alfred Munnings 1878-1959, London, 1978, p. 184, illustrated) as well as reproduced as a print. "Three of my Epsom pictures were shown at the Royal Academy in 1931: The Saddling Paddock, Going Out, and Unsaddling. For these pictures I used my own horses. The stud was growing--too large perhaps; among them was a new addition, Chips. No artist could want a better model than 'Chip'. This was his French name; we called him Chips. He was by Alcantara out of Blue China. Also there was...The Kaffir a very well-bred dark bay thoroughbred horse. These were used in my Epsom pictures" (A. Munnings, The Second Burst, Bungay, 1951, p. 296). The model for the jockey was Munnings's groom Tom Slocombe. "The Kaffir was the dark horse on the other side of the bay, Chips. To get the picture right, I had another fellow in colours sitting on him at the same time, so that I saw the two together. From a panel study I put in the old number-boards, long since gone to limbo--broken up, I suppose; a sad thing to contemplate. How many will recall the old, white-painted framework with tall inner frames which slid up and down, holding the numbers of horses and names of the jockeys? How many thousands of people have looked at the numbers, at their cards, at the horses; and have hurried back to the stands afar off, there being no Tote in the paddock in those days. Thank God, I still have my careful, finished study of those old Epsom number-boards. They appear in my reproduction of the pciture Going Out. Since the picture was painted, the saddling ring has been moved to higher ground, altering the direction the horses took as they left the paddock. For me there is no paddock to equal that at Espom. It is on the summit of a hill. Standing on the lower side, one sees figures of horses and mounted jockeys silhouetted against the sky; others with their sheets being drawn off their backs; groups of trainers, owners, jockeys, all in bright light of an early English summer, a long, white rail on the far side making a line through the picture--a scene for the artist" (ibid., p. 298).
Both Chips and The Kaffir were two of Munnings's favorite horses and were both purchased from Stewart Richardson. Chips by Alcantara out of Blue China was trained by Frank Carter at Chantilly and sold at three to the Duc de Cazes. He won 19 races during his steeplechasing career. Lady Munnings showed him in the Ladies' Hack Class at Olympia and hunted him often at Exmoor. In fact, one Christmas Chips was even an invited guest to the festivities at Castle House where he was brought into the front hall! (ibid., p. 182). Chips was one of Munnings's favorite models and was also the subject of his important watercolor Violet Munnings's Chips at Chantilly (formerly in the collection of the late Mrs. John Hay Whitney; estate sale, Sotheby's New York, 24 April 1999, lot 612, $739,500).
Both Chips and The Kaffir were two of Munnings's favorite horses and were both purchased from Stewart Richardson. Chips by Alcantara out of Blue China was trained by Frank Carter at Chantilly and sold at three to the Duc de Cazes. He won 19 races during his steeplechasing career. Lady Munnings showed him in the Ladies' Hack Class at Olympia and hunted him often at Exmoor. In fact, one Christmas Chips was even an invited guest to the festivities at Castle House where he was brought into the front hall! (ibid., p. 182). Chips was one of Munnings's favorite models and was also the subject of his important watercolor Violet Munnings's Chips at Chantilly (formerly in the collection of the late Mrs. John Hay Whitney; estate sale, Sotheby's New York, 24 April 1999, lot 612, $739,500).