It is a rare and special privilege for us to see a lot that we have sold return to its place of origin, so we were delighted to learn that one such lot ‘Huntsman and the Belvoir Hounds’ by Wright Barker has found a new home in Belvoir Country. The painting was sold in the British, European and Sporting Art Sale on 17th July for a hammer price of £11,000.
The new owners, who have recently had the painting restored, bought the painting for the love of the subject and the relationship of the painting to the area where they live. Indeed, their daughter has ridden out with the Belvoir Hunt, and they are looking into researching local hunt archives to identify the huntsman and hounds active when the painting was executed in 1913.
We were able to pass on the history of the painting to the new owners, kindly provided by the vendors. It was purchased by the vendor’s grandfather from auction at Elston Hall near Newark, home of the Darwin family, in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The vendor’s family lived just a few miles away from the new owner’s home, who it turns out remembered visiting the vendor’s parents and seeing the painting in their house. We are very grateful to both parties for sharing their story with us.
Wright Barker (1864-1941) was known for his bold yet highly detailed animal paintings, with hunting being a particularly favourite subject. Barker was born in Bradford but lived after marriage near Newark. Following a spell in Hampstead, Barker finally settled in Harrogate where he turned his hand to art dealing in addition to his work as an artist.
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