BG 80
JOHN FERNELEY Snr
Thrussington 1782 - 1860 Melton Mowbray
A red and white setter, spaniel and terrier belonging to the family of Earl Ferrers, in the park at Staunton Harold, Leicestershire
Signed and dated lower left: J.Ferneley. / Pinxt 1808
Canvas: 25 x 30 in / 63.5 x 76.2 cm
Frame size: 31 ½ x 35 ¼ in / 80 x 89.5 cm
Provenance:
Commissioned by Lady Tamworth, daughter-in-law of Robert, 7th Earl Ferrers (1756-1827)
Private collection, UK
Literature:
Major Guy Paget, The Melton Mowbray of John Ferneley/The Account Books of John Ferneley, 1931, perhaps p.126, no.2 (Account Books 1808. ‘Do. For Lady Tamworth. Portrait of a dog of Lady Catherine Collier. 2.12.6.’)
This delightful work was made quite early in Ferneley’s career and for one of the Leicestershire aristocratic families who first nurtured his talent. The son of a Thrussington wheelwright, he was ‘discovered’ by the Duke of Rutland while decorating a cart and sent by the Duke to study with Ben Marshall in London in 1803.
This painting of three favourite dogs was commissioned by Lady Tamworth, daughter-in-law of Robert, 7th Earl Ferrers of Staunton Harold. Lord and Lady Tamworth were buyers of several paintings in 1808, at the very beginning of Ferneley’s Account Books (nos.1-3). The young artist had gone to stay at Staunton Harold in July 1808, ‘where he painted his first big picture, a shooting party, several hunting pictures for Lord Tamworth, Earl Ferrers’s son, and, for Lady Tamworth, her dog and a small portrait of Master Bruce Campbell with two beagles or harriers….Here he was taken very ill, and was advised to winter somewhere less bleak and cold than Leicestershire. He chose Ireland’. Ferneley received £21 for the large painting of the shooting party, charging by the number of figures.
The beautiful portrait of the setter reveals how well Ferneley had learned his lessons from Marshall. The dog stands solidly in the landscape, the light and shade on his coat depicted with fluid and subtle brushwork. The spaniel and terrier provide amusing foils to his alert, dignified personality. Ferneley vividly evokes the atmosphere of the park at Staunton Harold, with the church, mansion and lakes in the distance. Pevsner has commented: ‘For position, Staunton Harold, the house and the chapel, are unsurpassed in the country – certainly as far as Englishness is concerned’.
The Shirley family, created Earls Ferrers in the eighteenth century, had lived at Staunton Harold since the early fifteenth century. Staunton Harold Hall was remodelled in Palladian style by Admiral Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers, in 1763. Ferneley shows the graceful east front of stone and red brick. To the left is Holy Trinity church, one of very few churches built in England between the Civil War and the Restoration. Over its west entrance is the inscription: ‘In the yeare: 1653 when all things sacred were throughout ye nation Either demollisht or profaned Sr Richard Shirley Baronet Founded this Church whose singular praise it is to have done the best things in ye worst times’. Sir Richard died in the Tower of London in 1656. The church is now the property of the National Trust.
Staunton Harold Hall and Holy Trinity church.
JOHN FERNELEY Snr
Thrussington 1782 - 1860 Melton Mowbray
One of the most accomplished sporting artists of his day, John Ferneley Senior had a long and prolific career, and enjoyed considerable fame and fortune during his lifetime. Born at Thrussington in Leicestershire, the son of a wheelwright, Ferneley was first apprenticed to his father's trade. His artistic talent was soon recognised by the Duke of Rutland, who admired some of his pictures which adorned a cart on which his father was working.
In 1803, at the instigation of the Duke of Rutland, Ferneley was sent to London to study with the successful sporting painter Benjamin Marshall; he also enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1806 to 1853.
From 1804, he travelled extensively around England, visiting Dover (to paint the Leicestershire militia), Norfolk and Lincoln. In 1808 he went to Ireland, where he returned annually between 1810 and 1812, and painted many pictures for the Irish gentry.
Ferneley spent the rest of his life at Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, where he built a studio and house named Elgin Lodge. His reputation earned him the patronage and friendship of many Meltonians and members of the aristocracy. He was patronised by some of the most fashionable figures of the day, including Beau Brummel and Count d’Orsay.