FAT ANIMALS SET TO GET HEALTHY PRICE AT BONHAMS

The fatter the better was the view of 19th century farmers when it came to their livestock, and Bonhams is delighted to offer a quirky collection of paintings of plumped up animals as part of The Gentleman's Library Sale at Bond Street, on 20th January 2010.

Robert Blackwell, a Leicestershire farmer, set the trend by experimenting with his English Longhorn cattle and Leicester sheep to provide more meat (and fat) for a human population which had doubled in size during the 18th century.

 

So proud were landowners and farmers of their enlarged beasts that they became as likely to commission pictures of their livestock, as of their family. Artists, both amateur and established, made healthy livings at country fairs, where they painted the magnificent animals in all their glory.

 

The Gentleman's Library Sale offers some fine examples of these portly animals, including eight paintings by Richard Whitford. 'A prize cow in a landscape' and 'A prize cow in a barn' (estimate of £1,500 - 2,000 each) were commissioned by the Third Earl of Powis when the said cow won first prize at the Bingley Hall, Birmingham in 1877.

 

The paintings were also an advertisement for the farmer. 'The pig Cromwell in his sty' (estimate £4,000 - 6,000) would have made one farmer proud, while William Gunning-King's 'Porkers Resting' depicts a very round herd of pigs.

 

The vogue was also for the landowner to be portrayed with his livestock. In this sale G* F* Robertson's 'The prize ewe' (estimate £3,000 - 5,000) shows an anonymous landowner pointing with affection at his plump livestock.

 

Alistair Laird, Director, 19th Century Paintings, says: “I think people like the naïve animal pictures because of their quirkiness and their humour. The amazing thing is that these animals did actually look like this, as these were the days before animal husbandry. Whereas nowadays consumers want cattle with little fat, in those days the animals were fed as much as they could eat. The trend with these pictures is stable, not really going up or down in value. However there is a hardcore of collectors on both sides of the Atlantic. Our collection in the Gentleman's Library Sale is representative, although there are more fat cows than other types of livestock.”