Hereford Bull with Sheep by a Haystack

  • About the work
    Location
    Country: Romania
    City: Bucharest
    Place: British Embassy
  • About the artist
    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.
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    Materials & Techniques
    canvas, oil, oil painting
  • Details
    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