Collections of Museum of the Horse

David Jeremy Buckland James. 25/7/1949 – 25/9/ 2023

Brigadier John Smales and I set out from Somerset at the crack of dawn on 27th October 2023. It is a long way up to St Mary’s Church, Bromfield, Shropshire. It was hard to think about anything else except that we had both lost a very important friend. St Mary’s Church has a foundation older

Racing

Édouard Manet 1832-1883 Print ‘At the Races’ 1875

His family were affluent and well connected, his mother was the daughter of a diplomat and his father a judge. He had two younger brothers. It was his uncle Edmond Fournier from his mother’s side, who encouraged him to pursue painting. His father would have preferred him to enter law school and follow his eminent

Racing

Farewell Manchester Racecourse

A brief history of Manchester Racecourse. There is a song, ‘Farwell Manchester composed about 1740 by the Reverend Will Felton, it was also a harpsichord piece known as, ‘Felton Gavotte.’ Thought to have been sung to Prince Charles Edward Stuart as they left the city in December 1745. Farwell Manchester it was eventually to the

Racing

Francis Calcraft Turner 1782-1846 Ascot Heath Races

Little seems to be known about this prolific artist; he died in Cranmer Place, London, June 12th 1846. He is thought to be the father of G.A. Turner. He is recorded as having asserted that he was the most knowledgeable sportsman of his time. Which is saying a lot when you think of the period

Racing

James Pollard, Epsom Races Preparing to Start

Preparing to Start, was published in 1836, when James was at the height of his career. It is one of a series of six; Saddling in the Warren, Epsom, Betting Post, Grandstand, Race Over, Settling Day at Tattersall. He was the second son of Robert Pollard and Ann Iley, and James was born in Islington.

Art

Raoul Dufy 1877 – 1953 Longchamp Racecourse, Paris

Dufy was born in 1872 in Le Harve one of nine children. His father was a professional man and a musician and he played the organ in the local church. The children were all brought up with music very much at the centre of their lives. Raoul preferred art. Due to financial problems he left

Hunting

Henry Alken 1784/5 – 1851 Hunting sketch

This superb sketch was purchased from Crows Auction House. It is beyond delightful, must have been done on the field, a delicate reminder of what might end up in a painting. Henry Alken Snr. (Seffrien) was a Dane by blood and English by birth. In 1772 they somehow go involved in a plot against Christian

Racing

Henry Alken 1784/5 – 1851 The High Mettled Racer

Henry Alken Snr. (Seffrien) was a Dane by blood and English by birth. In 1772 they somehow go involved in a plot against Christian 7th Queen, Matilda, which ended up the in beheading of her supposed lover Count Struenzee. The Queen died not long after aged 24. The Alkens left the country and took a

Art

George Morland 1763-1804

George Morland was born in Haymarket, London, the son of an artist and art dealer Henry Robert Morland. His son was so talented he exhibited at the RA at the age of 14. You would have thought a great future lay ahead for this young man. He married Ann Ward, the sister to James Ward

Art

Geoffrey Gambado caricaturist

Henry William Bunbury, 1 July 1750 –7th May 1811 William Bunbury was born in Mildenhall, Suffolk, he was the second son of Sir William Bunbury, 5th Baronet of Mildenhall, from an old Norman family. He was educated at Westminster School and then at Cambridge, his talent for drawing humorous subjects was obvious from an