19th Century Oil Painting Portrait Bay Hunter Horse Partisan by James Barenger C1827 Bred by 4th Duke of Grafton

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Description

Antique Georgian English Early 19th Century Wall Art Oil Painting Portrait Of Bay Hunter Horse 'Partisan' By James Barenger Bred … Read more Antique Georgian English Early 19th Century Wall Art Oil Painting Portrait Of Bay Hunter Horse 'Partisan' By James Barenger Bred By 4th Duke of Grafton.
Subject Equine race horse portrait of a bay hunter horse Partisan, facing left outside in open green field landscape with trees in the background.
Title Hunter In Landscape old label verso.
Name of the horse is also inscribed verso "Partisan" & dated 1827 along with artist biography.
Oil on canvas.
Circa early 19th century.
This painting is signed by the English known accomplished artist James Barenger.
This is a fine example of his work.
Breeding & Background
Partisan was a bay colt foaled in 1811 at the Grafton stud. He was:
Bred and owned by George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, one of the leading owner-breeders of the era
Sired by Walton (1799), a top son of Sir Peter Teazle and twice champion sire in Britain
Out of Parasol (1800), a high-class mare by Pot-8-Os, herself the dam of multiple classic winners
TB writers often describe him as a moderately good racehorse who became far more important as a sire than as a performer on the turf.

Partisan on the Turf
Partisan’s first season at three was moderately promising. He was nominated for the Derby but did not run, his trainer Robert Robson deciding he could not get him fully fit after a long, hard winter.
At three he ran seven times, winning three 200-guinea matches at Newmarket – first against another Walton son, Pinions, then against Magician (by Sorcerer), and a third against an Orville filly. He received a forfeit in a match against Little Turk (by Selim). Earlier in the season he ran unplaced in a three-year-old sweep won by Bourbon, and in July was unplaced in the Newmarket Town Plate. By October he was showing his true form, winning a sweepstakes at Newmarket and beating the older Curlew and the good race filly Medora, that year’s Oaks winner.
He continued to run respectably at Newmarket, and while he never became a Derby hero, he earned a reputation as a good, fast horse on the Rowley Mile. Partisan and many of his contemporaries raced during a quieter phase of English racing under Jockey Club rules – a “nadir” in terms of spectacle, but a critical period for developing the breed.

Partisan in the Stud
Partisan’s real legacy was forged at stud. Although he never headed the sires’ list, he became a highly influential stallion, getting:
Four classic winners:
Zeal – 1821 1,000 Guineas
Mameluke – 1827 Derby
Patron – 2,000 Guineas
Cyprian – Oaks
Three exceptionally important sire sons:
Gladiator – later a key stallion in France
Glaucus – high-class Cup horse and successful sire in Germany
Venison – top performer and influential sire in Britain
Through these sons, Partisan carried the Highflyer / Sir Peter Teazle line forward well into the later 19th century in both Britain and Europe.
He also got many daughters who bred on; among the most significant descendants through his male line are the broodmares Queen Mary and Queen Bertha, both of whom had a major long-term impact on the Thoroughbred.
Modern bloodline historians regard Partisan as a key link in the early thoroughbred stud book – a solid, game Newmarket runner who founded a long-lasting and widely influential sire line rather than dazzling purely with his own race record. He died in 1833, aged around 22.

Why that matters for this painting
Dated/inscribed 1827, this Barenger portrait shows Partisan at a moment when:
He had already proven himself on the track
His early crops were beginning to make their mark
The Duke of Grafton’s breeding programme was at full strength
This is almost certainly a stud portrait of an important foundation stallion, not just a “nice horse in a field”. It is exactly the kind of image a major owner would commission to celebrate a successful sire for display in a stud office, tack room or house corridor.

Abou the artist
James Barenger (1780–1831) was an English animal painter and illustrator.Barenger was born in Kentish Town, London, the son of James Barenger Snr., a metal chaser and artist who exhibited paintings of insects at the Society of Artists and Royal Academy, and Sarah Woollett, the daughter of the engraver, William Woollett. His brother Samuel Barenger (christened Major Samuel Barenger) also became an engraver.
Beginning as a landscape artist, Barenger went on to specialise in painting horses, dogs and other animals, and hunting scenes. In 1807, at the age of 28, he exhibited at the Royal Academy for the first time. At this stage, he was living with his father in Kentish Town, but later moved to Camden Town. He went on to exhibit 48 paintings at the Royal Academy and eight at the British Institution.
He acquired numerous wealthy and aristocratic patrons, and his pictures were also engraved for sporting publications such as W. H. Scott's British Field Sports, The Sporting Repository, The Annals of Sporting and The Sporting Magazine. For the last of these, Scott engraved Barenger's painting of the racehorse Blucher (ca. 1814).
As well as painting, Barenger also bred pointer dogs. He died on 1 October 1831 and was buried in Old St Pancras churchyard. References Jump up to: a b c d Sir Walter Gilbey, F. Babbage, Animal painters of England from the year 1650, Volume 1 - Alken to Gooch (London: Vinton & Co., 1900) pp. 34–39. "Samuel Barenger (Biographical details)". British Museum. Retrieved 6 June 2014. William Henry Scott. British field sports (London: Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 2nd ed., 1820). The Sporting Repository (1822 - reprinted by London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1904).
^ The Sporting Magazine, October 1816, p. "Obituary". The New Sporting Magazine. 2: 145. December 1831.
James Barenger's work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging up to 37,176 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork.

Provenance
Private collection.
Scholarly reasoning suggests the canvas, painted in 1827, & by repute was probably commissioned by or for the 4th Duke of Grafton / Grafton Stud at Euston Hall, owner of Partisan and a recorded patron of Barenger. It may have hung in the house or stud buildings and likely remained in a Grafton-related family collection for part of the 19th century.
This line of provenance is typical for British sporting art of the period and fits both the subject and Barenger’s known patronage, but it is not supported by published documentation and remains conjectural.
Later in private English collections until first recorded at auction:
Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, 8 September 2020
Curated by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD

Having such magnificent controlled brush work. Such a delightful equestrian horse animal lovers scene.
Set in such an attractive gilt wood original frame. We only select & sell paintings based upon subject, quality & significance.
A superb equine collectors investment item. With hanging thread on the back ready for immediate home display.
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Dimensions in centimetres of frame

High (78cm)
Length depth thickness (4.5cm)
Wide (90cm) See less