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Created by George Stubbs (1724–1806), the artist [1][a]; ...; purchased by unknown collector, Brighton, England by 1939 [b]; given to Penelope Luxmoore-May (née Foxwell) (1922–2019), Dunsfold, Surrey, England by 1948 [2][c]; consigned to Messenger May Baverstock, Surrey, England, September 1985 [d]; purchased at auction by Colin Rogers, Wiltshire, England at Messenger May Baverstock, in Surrey, England, October 1985 [3][e]; acquired by Sotheby & Co., London, England, December 1985 [f]; purchased at auction by Spink & Son, London, England at Sotheby & Co., in London, England, March 12, 1986 (lot 114, ‘Foxhound on the Scent’), in "British Paintings, 1500-1850" [g]; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), 1987 [h]; bequest, to the Yale Center for British Art, 2001.

Notes:
[1] In the artist’s catalogue raisonné, Judy Egerton features this painting and B2001.2.228 together as ‘Two studies of foxhounds, each appearing in the Charlton Hunt, but each now seen against a coastal background.’ Egerton suggests that the paintings could be attributed to Stubbs despite not appearing in previous sales of known works by the artist nor listed in the artist’s studio sale in 1807. However, Stubbs was known to have made at least two paintings in oil "upon the Prints," and Egerton suggests that these works were made on tracing paper or over prints from the engravings A Foxhound on the Scent (B1985.36.1443) and A Foxhound, published by Stubbs on May 1, 1788.

[2] Penelope Luxmoore-May (née Foxwell) received the two foxhound studies (B2001.2.227 and B2001.2.228) from an unnamed family friend as a marriage gift in July 1948. Newspaper reports state that this friend found the paintings in an antiques shop in Brighton’s Lanes. When Luxmoore-May later decided to sell her pictures, she went through the regional auctioneering firm Messenger May Baverstock where her husband, Paul Andrew Luxmoore-May (1909–1994), had been a senior partner until his retirement in 1979.

[3] Colin Rogers was an art dealer and a former dentist from Trowbridge, Wiltshire. Court records from the Luxmoore-May v Messenger May Baverstock describe Colin Rogers as a "speculative bidder" from Bath. Rogers did not confirm if he took the paintings to Sotheby’s or hired someone else to facilitate the transfer.

Citations:
[a] Judy Egerton, George Stubbs, Painter: Catalogue Raisonné (Yale University Press, 2007), 137, no. 12D.
[b] "No negligence in honest valuation," The Times, December 2, 1989.
[c] Terence Shaw, "Auction house which sold ‘Stubbs’ oils for £840 has to pay £76,000 damages," Daily Telegraph, November 23, 1988.
[d] Luxmoore-May v Messenger May Baverstock [1990] 1 WLR 1009.
[e] Andrew Morgan, "Judgement reserved on ‘Stubbs’ oils," Times, November 5, 1988.
[f] Luxmoore-May v Messenger May Baverstock [1990] 1 WLR 1009.
[g] Sotheby & Co., British Paintings, 1500-1850 (Sotheby, 1986), no. 114.
[h] Egerton, George Stubbs, 137.