Whistlejacket
Whistlejacket
Limited Edition Print on Paper or Canvas
Paper: Edition of 50 - Image size: 36 x 31 inches (91.5 x 79 cm) Paper size: 40 x 35 inches (101.5 x 89 cm)
The print is hand-numbered and accompanied by a certificate signed by the Master Printer and bearing a matching number to the print
Canvas: Edition of 75 - Image size: 64 x 54 inches (162 x 137 cm) Canvas size: 69 x 59 inches (175 x 150 cm)
The print is hand-numbered and accompanied by a certificate signed by the Master Printer and bearing a matching number to the print
Perhaps the greatest horse portrait ever painted, in a superb quality limited edition.
Whistlejacket is an oil painting from about 1762 showing the Marquess of Rockingham's racehorse, rearing up against a blank background. The huge original canvas, which is 292cm × 246cm (115 in × 97 in), the lack of other features and Stubbs' attention to the minute details of the horse's appearance give the portrait a powerful physical presence.
A chestnut (or sorrel) stallion, with lighter mane and tail, Whistlejacket was foaled in 1749 at the stud of Sir William Middleton, 3rd Baronet at Belsay Castle in Northumberland, and named after a contemporary cold remedy containing gin and treacle. He famously won a four-mile race at York in August 1759 against a strong field, beating Brutus by a length, and then retired to stud. He was beaten only four times in his racing career, but was notoriously temperamental and difficult to manage. Stubbs depicts him rising to a levade and pays intimate attention to the features of Whistlejacket's body. Minute blemishes, veins and the muscles flexing just below the surface of the skin are all visible and reproduced with almost photographic accuracy. Despite the isolation of the subject from natural surroundings Stubbs manages to create a living animal.
Rockingham paid 60 guineas for the portrait. Contemporary opinion was that the painting was unfinished. There is little evidence for this view: Stubbs produced other paintings of horses against blank backgrounds for Rockingham, nothing in the painting indicates that it is not complete, and the detail of the shadows cast by Whistlejacket's rear legs on the ground suggest that this is how Stubbs intended the picture to be seen; the absence of background details intensifies the sense of power that the horse projects as it rears and twists its head.
VAT applies only to UK print orders
VAT does not apply to original paintings worldwide
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Framing
Framing
FRAMING (prints on paper): We use a simple classic frame, gold finish over a black ground, approximately 1 3/4 inches (4.4 cm) in width with off-white acid-free mount 2 1/2 to 3 inches (6.5 - 7.5 cm) wide. Pictures are framed under glass and fitted with wire ready for hanging.
For larger pictures that are to be shipped we can use perspex instead of glass for security in transit - we may contact you to discuss this. Frame section shown below:
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FRAMING (prints on canvas): We use a simple classic frame with a gold finish and a white slip next to the canvas, approximately 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) in width. Pictures are framed like an oil painting with no glass and fitted with wire ready for hanging. Frame section shown below:
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Shipping
Shipping
Unframed prints on canvas are supplied unstretched, with a 2 inch white border, rolled and packed in a strong cardboard tube.
All prints are covered in transit by our insurance.
Further information can be found here.
Photographs and images
Photographs and images
We ensure that images on our site are faithful to the originals but point out that slight colour variation can occur according to the screen on which they are viewed. Image is copyright Felix Rosenstiel's Widow and Son. No reproduction without permission.
