James Mackrell after F. C. Turner

The Clipper
The Veterinarian

27.5 x 23.5 inches

A pair of aquatints partly printed in colour and finished by hand; engraved by Mackrell after the paintings by Turner and published in London in 1845.

There is something very appealing about the scale of these images, both set within a stable. In the first picture we see an aristocratic young man waiting with the ostler whilst his horse has its hocks and fetlocks clipped. The scene is further enlivened by a stable boy teasing a little terrier with the promise of a biscuit and the imminent arrival of a second pint of ale from the innkeeper behind. In the second picture we see a blacksmith or veterinarian working on a horse's shoe and once again it is in the incidental detail that we find the charm: horseshoes hang in a row along the beam, a donkey looks inquisitively at what's occurring and a hound drools in anticipation of a treat.

Not much is known about Turner except that he lived and worked in London and exhibited his first equestrian painting at The Royal Academy in 1817. These prints date from 1845, the year before he died and were engraved on copper by James Mackrell; a skilled aquatinter, highly adept at interpreting horses in the transition from paint to print. Offered for sale in their original rosewood frames and glass.