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Study of a fox

Watercolour
1824 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

When Lewis was a young man, fox hunting in Britain was the rural sport that had the most popular following. Lewis’s early reputation was founded on the sporting pictures that he successfully exhibited and sold. These included Buck Shooting in Windsor Great Park (Tate, no.4822; exhibited Royal Academy 1826; British Institution 1827) and portraits of individual sportsmen and their dogs. This watercolour may be a work in its own right or it may be a study for an unknown composition. Lewis exhibited two watercolours that included foxes at the Society of Painters in Water Colours: ‘Wild Ducks surprised by a Fox’ (1829) and ‘Fox and Duck’ (1831) (location of both unknown), but he is not known to have depicted the foxhunt itself.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleStudy of a fox (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour
Brief description
Watercolour study of a fox by John Frederick Lewis. Great Britain, 1824.
Physical description
Rapid watercolour sketch of a fox's head
Dimensions
  • Height: 18.7cm
  • Width: 28.4cm
Dimensions taken from departmental notes
Gallery label
John Frederick Lewis 1804/5-1876 Study of a Fox 1824 Fox hunting was a very popular rural sport. Although Lewis made a significant number of sporting pictures, including portraits of individual hounds, he does not seem to have been interested in depicting the sport itself. Watercolour Given by Mrs R. Ellison 1860 Museum no. FA.531
Credit line
Given by Mrs R Ellison
Subjects depicted
Summary
When Lewis was a young man, fox hunting in Britain was the rural sport that had the most popular following. Lewis’s early reputation was founded on the sporting pictures that he successfully exhibited and sold. These included Buck Shooting in Windsor Great Park (Tate, no.4822; exhibited Royal Academy 1826; British Institution 1827) and portraits of individual sportsmen and their dogs. This watercolour may be a work in its own right or it may be a study for an unknown composition. Lewis exhibited two watercolours that included foxes at the Society of Painters in Water Colours: ‘Wild Ducks surprised by a Fox’ (1829) and ‘Fox and Duck’ (1831) (location of both unknown), but he is not known to have depicted the foxhunt itself.
Collection
Accession number
FA.531

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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