John Frederick Herring Sr. | Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, R.A. | John Phillip, R.A.

Williams, Stevens & Williams Gallery, New York;

From whom acquired by the Cosmopolitan Art Association in New York in 1859;

Sir Walter Gilbey (1831–1914), 1st Baronet, Elsenham Hall;

Thence by descent;

G. Sedgwick;

From whom acquired by Agnews & Sons, London, by 11 July 1901;

Where acquired by Alexander Forbes-Leith (1847–1925), 1st Baron Leith of Fyvie, by 31 December 1901, for 550 guineas;

Thence by descent to Sir George Forbes-Leith, 4th Baronet;

By whom sold, through Simon Dickinson Ltd, in 2005;

Where acquired by the present owner.

New York, Williams, Stevens & Williams Gallery, 1858–1859, no. 6. 

W.S. Sparrow, British Sporting Artists, London and New York 1922, p. 218, reproduced n.p.

‘There is a picture, a fine one, in the collection of the Lord Leith of Fyvie, that represents a happy and sunny collaboration between Herring, and Landseer, and John Phillip, three leading members of the school with which I have been trying to bring my readers intimately in touch… not that although the goodwife painted by Phillip is rather Spanish in type, the picture hangs together very well, showing how three similar technical methods coalesced and formed a very typical harmony of school orchestration. Landseer painted the hound and the blacksmith, whose face resembles Landseer’s; the rest of the picture belongs to Herring, whose fondness for blacksmiths and their forges lasted from his earliest boyhood to 1865, the year of his death.’ 

When The Village Blacksmith was reproduced in Walter Sparrow’s 1922 survey of British Sporting Artists it was stated that the picture was painted by Herring, John Phillip and Sir Edwin Landseer. This method of collaboration was not unusual for Herring who often worked with other artists, including Thomas Faed, Henry Bright and William Powell Frith who periodically painted the figures in his pictures and with Alexander Rolfe who sometimes painted the landscapes. The inclusion of the work of Landseer is more unusual and demonstrates the mutual appreciation between the two eminent animal-painters of their generation. Landseer’s fleet-footed hound is a brilliant embodiment of alert canine energy and studied anatomy whilst the blacksmith is very typical of Landseer’s work – particularly the texture of his hair and the muddy boots. John Phillip – known as ‘Spanish Phillip’ for his depictions of Andalusian peasants – painted the blacksmith’s wife, entering the stable with a basket of vitals. This section of the picture was painted on a separate piece of canvas and cleverly inserted into the composition by Herring who painted the superb still-life elements of the smith’s tools and the wonderful white horse that is patiently being shod.

Although Sparrow suggested that the smithy was a self-portrait by Landseer, according to an American journalist, writing in 1859, the model was an itinerant Methodist preacher from Lancashire named Hicks; ‘who used to alternate between blacksmithing (whereby he earned his own bread) and dispensing the “bread of life” to those desiring it, as contained in the Scriptures. Many interesting stories are narrated of this noted field-preacher, and before he died he was instrumental in building up two churches of his persuasion.’ (Cosmopolitan Art Journal, 1859, p.67)

In 1853, after twenty years in London, Herring made an impulsive and rapid move to Kent after seeing a house for rent in the Times. This is likely to have been due, in part, to concerns about his health as he had suffered from asthma and bronchitis from his days as a coach driver. He finally resolved to move from his cottage in Camberwell when a manure factory was opened nearby and the stench was too much for him to bear. Settled in the fine Georgian mansion of Meopham Park and surrounded by the beautiful landscape of the Weald of Kent, Herring concentrated almost entirely on the rural subjects that surrounded him. There is a greater freedom to the work of this period with a naturalistic style replacing the formality of the 'rocking-horse' racing portraits. The Village Blacksmith painted only two years after his move, represents Herring's finest work from the period. In 1856 Herring painted another similar smithy-setting, Shoeing Imaum (sold in these rooms, 17 December 2009, lot 66). Both pictures celebrate Herring’s favourite equine model.

‘The white horse in this picture is Herring’s beautiful Arab, Imaum, which acted many parts in his work, posing with intelligent pleasure, and remaining a beloved model year after year till the good animal became old and stiff. Queen Victoria gave Imaum to the Clerk of the Royal Stables, who was not a fine courtier, for he sold the gift horse at Tattersall’s, and Herring was lucky enough to be the purchaser.’

Imaum was a remarkable horse, unusually strong and stout for an Arabian. He was the first of four Arabs given to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert by the Imaum of Muscat. Herring was very fortunate to buy Imaum when he was sold at Tattersall’s and on one occasion he was reputedly approached by a gentleman in Piccadilly who offered him two hundred guineas for the horse; an offer that was refused despite the potential profit.  Imaum was a great favourite of the artist who appears in several of his most prominent paintings, including his depiction of Byron's poem Mazeppa (Tate) and The Halt (Sotheby’s, Gleneagle’s, 28 August 2002, lot 1049). Imaum was not a young horse when Herring purchased him but was still capable of being ridden from Camberwell to Stevenage and back in a day – a distance of seventy-five miles. He lived a long life at Meopham and was in the habit of sleeping standing-up leaning against the wall of his stable – it was said that he did not lie down for eight years.

In 1858 the Cosmopolitan Art Journal noted that The Village Blacksmith was exhibited at Williams, Stevens & Williams Gallery on Broadway in New York alongside Rosa Bonheur’s celebrated Horse Fair; ‘The reception of this superb work of the great animal painter J.F. Herring, has been most enthusiastic. Its exhibition attracted the notice of connoisseurs and the press to a not inconsiderable degree; while, to the public generally, it proved a source of great attraction and of much flattering remark… The “Blacksmith” came and conquered.’ (p. 67). By 1859 the same journal reported that the painting and its copyright had been purchased for the enormous sum of $6,000 by the Cosmopolitan Art Association in New York and ‘It will, we learn be offered as one of the prizes to subscribers to the next January’s award.’  Subscribers to the Association could also purchase engravings of the painting made by J.S. Patterson who was said to have finished the engraved-plate, two days before he died.

The columnist for Cosmopolitan Art Journal described the picture emphatically; ‘’The Village Blacksmith’ covers a canvas of twenty square feet, representing the interior of a smithy; and the smith in the act of shoeing or unshoeing a large white horse, with the right foot between his knees; and just as he has got his pincers fairly hold of the shoe, his attention is diverted by a musical footstep; and while only half-seeing, he seems to feel the smiling presence of his wife, who stands close at his side with the dinner-basket on her arm. A full-blooded hound in the foreground, absorbed in the operation upon the horse, is the only other live figure in the picture – a group of four: a horse, one of the finest we have ever seen on canvas; a man, who is every inch a man, reminding one of the Longfellow’s lines: ‘The smith. A stalwart man was he, With large and sinewy hands;’ a woman, who comes in with her ‘good cheer,’ like a blessing; and a noble hound marvelously foreshortened. As a whole the painting is a master-piece, and we cannot contemplate it long without falling in love, at least with the woman and the horse. ‘My kingdom for a horse’ – like that! and for such a bonnie wife, we would give our whole heart and life.’

The Cosmopolitan Art Journal also quoted several other reviews of the painting from American journals;

‘It is one of the most enjoyable bits of Art I have ever seen… The whole is a gem of Art – the two human, the two animal figures, accessories and all.’ The Home Journal.

‘The subject is simple, but the painting is regarded as Herring’s masterpiece. Every object in the picture stands forth with prominence and distinctness showing the clearness of the artist’s mental vision, while the finish and accuracy of the work are conclusive evidence of his taste and skill.’ The New York Programme.

’This is one of the most perfect specimens of animal painting ever exhibited in this country, not excepting the best efforts of Landseer or Rosa Bonheur. In drawing, coloring, grouping, management of light and shade, and attention to detail, the painting also challenges comparison with the best works of the best artists.’ The New York Day Book.