Hereford Bull with Sheep by a Haystack

Location

Country: Romania
City: Bucharest
Place: British Embassy

Printmaker and painter James Ward was born in London; the son of a fruit merchant. He did not attend school but was apprenticed to engraver John Raphael Smith from twelve. After the apprenticeship was terminated, he studied under his brother, printmaker William. He later concentrated on painting, in which he was largely self-taught. In 1794 Ward became Painter and Engraver in Mezzotint to the Prince of Wales. In 1800 the Board of Agriculture commissioned him to produce some 200 paintings of livestock. Although the commission fell through after c.100 pictures, it led to similar private commissions. Ward was elected a Royal Academician in 1811. He received an annual pension of £100 from the Academy before his death in Hertfordshire, aged 90.

Places

Subjects

landscape C19th, bull, sheep, haystack

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

James Ward (1769 - 1859)

Title

Hereford Bull with Sheep by a Haystack

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 46.00 cm, width: 61.40 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Christie's, 23 January 1953

Inscription

br: J.Ward ; verso - old ink inscriptions on stretcher bars: Mr Ward / No 6(?) North........(?) indistinct L: 9/,,, 18(?)

Provenance

Collection of Major Thomas Guy Frederick Paget (1886-1952) of Wheler Lodge, Husbands Bosworth, Rugby; by descent to lawyer and politician Reginald Thomas Guy Des Voeux Paget, QC, MP (1908-1990; later Baron, Lord Paget of Northampton); by whom sold through Christie’s, London, on 23 January 1953 (Lot 33), for £31.10.0; from which sale purchased by ‘Edwards’ on behalf of the Ministry of Works

GAC number

2050