Signed and dated, lower right: "Geo: Stubbs pinxit | 1774"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B2001.2.69
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
landscape | stockings | coat | fence | buckles | lake | breeches | grasses | trees | leisure | autumn | boy | child | animal art | horse (animal) | sky | morning | clouds
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
In a New Light: 500 Years of British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-04-01 - 2026-01-30)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Royal Academy of Arts, 2007-10-20 - 2008-01-27)The Paul Mellon Bequest : Treasures of a Lifetime (Yale Center for British Art, 2001-02-17 - 2001-04-29)George Stubbs in the Collection of Paul Mellon: a Memorial Exhibition (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2000-02-14 - 2000-05-15)George Stubbs in the Collection of Paul Mellon: a Memorial Exhibition (Yale Center for British Art, 1999-04-30 - 1999-09-05)Painting in England 1700-1850 - From The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (Yale University Art Gallery, 1965-04-15 - 1965-06-20)
Publications:
A Great Collection of British Pictures in Virginia, The Times (London), , May 1, 1963, p. 5, Times Digital ArchiveBrian Allen, The Sport of Collecting : Paul Mellon and British Art, Apollo, vol.165, April 2007, pp. 35,36, fig. 4, N1 A54 + (YCBA)Arthur Ackermann & Son Ltd., An exhibition of XVIIIth and XIXth century oil paintings of celebrated racehorses : 9th May to 1st June, 1962, presented by the British Racehorse at the galleries of Arthur Ackermann & Son, Ltd. , London, 1962, p. 13, No. 5, DealerCat Arthur Ackermann (YCBA)John Baskett, Painting in England: 1700-1850: the collection of English paintings formed by Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon : on exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, until August 18th, , Connoisseur, Vol. 153, London, June 1963, p. 102, N1 C75 + (YCBA)John Baskett, Paul Mellon's Legacy: a Passion for British Art: Masterpieces from the Yale Center for British Art, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, pp. 2, 253, no. 25, fig. 2, pl. 25, N5220 M552 P38 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Hugh Belsey, Exhibition reviews : Paul Mellon's legacy : New Haven and London, Burlington Magazine, vol. 149, October 2007, p. 714, fig. 53, N1 .B87 Oversize (YCBA)Castiglione, Scott, auctioneers, London, Heirlooms and objet d'art from Ruxley Lodge by order of Rt. Hnble Gerald Henry Baron Foley., October 14-20, 1919 , Castiglione, Scott, [London, 1919, p. 40, lot. 564, X348 C191 1919/10/14-20 (LSF - MUDD)Malcolm Cormack, George Stubbs in the collection of Paul Mellon : A memorial exhibition, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1999, pp. 10, 13, 30, no. 13, NJ18 St915 G54 1999 (YCBA)Lindsay Duguid, The Recollected Works, TLS, the Times Literary Supplement, , November 8, 2007, p. 17, Gale Primary Sources : Times Literary Supplement Historical ArchiveJudy Egerton, 'So Good with the Humbler Persons' : Stubbs as Portraitist, Burlington Magazine, vol. 149, October 2007, pp. 673-4, fig. 7, N1 B87 (LC) + (YCBA)Judy Egerton, British Sporting and Animal Paintings 1655-1867 : A Catalogue : The Paul Mellon Collection, , Tate Publishing, London, 1978, p. 87, no. 84, Colour Pl. 14, ND1383 G7 B75 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Judy Egerton, George Stubbs, painter : catalogue raisonne, , Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2007, pp. 358-59, no. 159, NJ18 St915 A12 +E44 2007 (YCBA)Genius Defined, Time, vol. 82, no.. 1, July 5, 1963, p. 58, V 2333 (YCBA) Hard Copy also available at SML - AP2 T55 +Catherine M. Gordon, British paintings Hogarth to Turner, Frederick Warne, London, 1981, p. 62, ND466 .G67 (YCBA)Chet Hagan, The Paul Mellon collection of sporting art, 1972, p. 1223, V 0368 (YCBA)Luke Herrmann, The Paul Mellon Collection at Burlington House, Connoisseur, vol. 157, December 1964, p. 216, fig 7, N1 C75 + OVERSIZE (YCBA)Julia Marciari-Alexander, This other Eden : Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1998, pp. 2-3, fig. 2, ND1314.3 Y36 1998 (YCBA)Mr Paul Mellon, Reflections in a silver spoon : a memoir, , W. Morrow, New York, 1992, pp 382-383, N5220 M552 1992 (YCBA)Sir Oliver Millar, The later Georgian pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen., Phaidon, London, 1969, p. 125 (v. 1), no. 1120, ND466 M55 (YCBA) +National Gallery of Art, Painting in Georgian England from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1970, p. 6, no. 15, ND488 P25 (YCBA)Old Masters in Wide Variety, The racehorse in art , The Times (London), Issue no. 55393, 17 May 1962, p. 5, Avaialble Online : Times Digital Archive Also available on Microfilm: Film An T482 (SML)Painting in England 1700-1850 : collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon : Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, , , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1963, p. 168 (v.1), no. 319, pl. 184, ND466 V57 v.1-2 (YCBA)Painting in England 1700-1850 from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, The Royal Academy of Arts Winter Exhibition 1964-65., , Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 1964, p. 77 (v.1), no. 274, pl. 54, N5220.M45 R69 1964 (YCBA)Constance-Anne Parker, Mr. Stubbs, the Horse Painter, J. A. Allen, London, 1971, pp. 109, 149, NJ18 St915 +P37 Oversize (YCBA)Paul Mellon's legacy : a passion for British art : April 18-July 29, 2007, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Conn., 2007, pp. 8-9, V 1735 (YCBA)Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 3, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Elizabeth A. Pergam, Obituary : Duncan Robinson (1943-2022), Burlington Magazine, vol. 165, May 2023, p. 578, N1 .B87 Oversize (YCBA)Duncan Robinson, At home to sporting art : the Brick House, Essays of Friends of British Sporting Art, no. 33, The British Sporting Art Trust, Summer 1997, pp. 2, 4, N8250 .B751 (YCBA)Lindsay Rothwell, Paul Mellon's legacy : an American's passion for British art : Sackler Wing of Galleries, 20 October 2007 - 27 January 2008 : an introduction to the exhibition for teachers and students., , Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 2007, pp. 2-3, cat. 25, V 2038 (YCBA)Stubbs, an exhibition in honor of Paul Mellon : National Gallery of Art, 4 May-2 June 1985. , National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1985, p. 1, no. 1, V 0413 (YCBA)Basil Taylor, Stubbs, Phaidon, London, 1971, p/ 210, no. 66, pl. 66, NJ18 St915 +T39 1971B (YCBA)Basil Taylor, Stubbs, Phaidon, London, 1975, p. 210, pl. 66, NJ18 St915 T39 1975 (YCBA) +The Ascott collection, Ascott, Buckinghamshire. , The National Trust, London, 1963, p. 14, DA664 A83 N37 (YCBA)The Yale Center for British Art : An Anniversary Celebration of Paul Mellon's Great Legacy, , Apollo, April 2007, p. 35, fig. 4, N5220 M552 A7 OVERSIZE (YCBA) Appeared as April 2007 issue of Apollo; all of the articles may also be found in bound Apollo Volume [N1 A54 165:2 +]Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Sport and the horse, catalogue of the exhibition of paintings assembled at the museum in Richmond from April 1 through May 15, 1960. , Richmond, 1960, p. 32, no. 20, N7668 H6 V57 (YCBA) +Malcolm Warner, The Paul Mellon Bequest : treasures of a lifetime, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2001, p. 81, N5247 M385 P28 2001 (YCBA)Giles Waterfield, Mr. Mellon, RA : the magazine for the Friends of the Royal Academy, No. 96, Autumn 2007, p. 71, V 1905 (YCBA)John Wilmerding, Essays in honor of Paul Mellon, collector and benefactor : Essays, , National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC & Hanover, NH, 1986, pp. 24, 27,29-31, fig. 3 [b/w], N7442.2 M455 1986 (YCBA)Charles B. Wrightsman, The Wrightsman collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1966, p. 217, no. 2, N5220 W88 (YCBA) +Yale University Art Gallery, Painting in England, 1700-1850, from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon : [exhibition at] Yale University Art Gallery, April 15-June 20, 1965, , vol. 1, W. Clowes and sons, New Haven, 1965, pp. 49-50 (v.1), no. 186, pl. 54, ND466 Y35 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
This was the first painting purchased by Paul Mellon, the founder of the Yale Center for British Art. He and his first wife, Mary, bought it in 1936 from Knoedler’s in New York City. “It was my very first purchase of a painting,” he later recalled, “and could be said to be the impetus toward my later, some might say gluttonous, forays into the sporting art field.” Pumpkin’s owner was the Honorable Thomas Foley, later second Baron Foley, who commissioned this portrait of his champion horse. In twenty-four starts, Pumpkin won sixteen races (many of them at Newmarket) worth 6,090 guineas, and nine hogsheads of claret. In 1772, in his first race, Pumpkin beat the favorite, Denmark, by half a neck. It was thought to be one of the finest races ever run on English turf. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
Provenance:
Commissioned by Thomas Foley, second Baron Foley (1742–1793), Witley Court, Worcestershire, England [1], from George Stubbs (1724–1806), the artist [a]; by descent to his son, Thomas Foley, third Baron Foley (1780–1833), Witley Court, Worcestershire, England; by descent to his son, Thomas Henry Foley, fourth Baron Foley (1808–1869), Witley Court, Worcestershire, England [2]; by descent to his son, Henry Thomas Foley, fifth Baron Foley (1850–1905), Ruxley Lodge, Surrey, England [3]; by inheritance to his brother, Fitzalan Charles John Foley, sixth Baron Foley (1852–1918), Ruxley Lodge, Surrey, England; by descent to his cousin, Gerald Henry Foley, seventh Baron Foley (1898–1927), Ruxley Lodge, Surrey, England [4]; purchased at auction by Pawsey & Payne, London, England, at Castiglione & Scott, in London, England, October 14–20, 1919 (lot 564, ‘A Hunter in a landscape, with bay groom in crimson coat with sieve, 33 x 36 ins.’), in "Heirlooms and objet d’art from Ruxley Lodge by order of Rt. Hnble Gerald Henry Baron Foley" [5][b][c]; purchased by Knoedler & Co., New York, NY, United States, October 20, 1919 (‘Earl of Portland’s Pumpkin’) [d]; purchased by Daniel Haddock Carstairs (1862–1934), Philadelphia, PA, United States (‘Earl of Portland’s Pumpkin’), April 15, 1921 [6][e][f]; consigned to Knoedler & Co., New York, NY, United States, April 11, 1931 [g]; purchased by Carroll Carstairs, New York, NY, United States, March 22, 1934 (‘Earl of Portland’s Pumpkin’) [7][h]; ...[8][i]; acquired by George Atwell, New York, NY, United States [9][j]; purchased by Knoedler & Co., New York, NY, United States, January 2, 1936 (‘Portrait of the Racehorse, Pumpkin’) [k]; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), May 1, 1936 (‘The Earl of Portland’s "Pumpkin"’) [l]; bequest to Yale Center for British Art, 2001. Notes: --- [1] Thomas Foley, second Baron Foley, was a peer and politician. Pumpkin was an accomplished racehorse bred from Matchem and Old Squirt Mare by the horse breeder John Pratt, who sold Pumpkin to Foley in 1773. [2] The family seat at Witley Court was sold in 1837 by Thomas Foley, fourth Baron Foley. [3] In 1782, Henry Foley, fifth Baron Foley, purchased land in Ruxley Lodge, Claygate, Surrey. [4] Because Fitzalan Charles John Foley had no heirs, the Foley title was passed onto his first cousin once removed, Gerald Henry Foley. Gerald was the grandson of British Army officer Sir St. George Gerald Foley (1814–1897), the third son of Thomas Foley, third Baron Foley. Gerald directed the sale of Ruxley Lodge and its contents. [5] The painting was sold on the third day of the sale, October 16. [6] Daniel Haddock Carstairs was an American merchant and yachtsman who, with his brother John Haseltine Carstairs (1863–1934), ran the Carstairs family whiskey distilling firm (est. 1788), once Philadelphia’s largest wholesale liquor business. Their brother Charles Carstairs (1865–1928) was an art dealer at Knoedler & Co. from the mid-1890s and briefly served as chairman following Roland Knoedler’s retirement. The Carstairs family’s close ties to the firm led many relatives to buy or consign art through Knoedler in the early twentieth century. Daniel also supported the firm by lending works to its exhibitions, including this painting, which he loaned to the December 1927 show "Old England: Town and Country" (no. 22, Portrait of the Race-Horse "Pumpkin"). [7] Carroll Carstairs, son of Charles Carstairs and nephew of Daniel Haddock Carstairs, was an art dealer who succeeded his father as chairman of Knoedler in 1928. In 1934, he left the firm to establish the Carroll Carstairs Gallery in New York. [8] From December 1935 to January 1936, the painting was on display at Thomas Agnew & Son’s gallery in London, England. The painting was possibly lent or consigned by Carstairs, from whom George Atwell bought it, or by Atwell in search of a buyer. [9] The Knoedler stock books list the seller as "George Atwell" of New York, likely referring to either George J. Atwell (1873–1944), a prominent building magnate involved in the construction of Rockefeller Center, or his son, George J. Atwell Jr. (1904–1968), a polo player. At the time of the sale, Atwell Jr. was still married to Jean Elmslie (née Cochran) (1908–1997), a New York socialite who collected art. Citations: --- [a] Judy Egerton, George Stubbs, Painter: Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), 358–59, no. 159. --- [b] Castiglione & Scott, Catalogue of Objets d’Art which will be sold by auction by Castiglione & Scott (London: Castiglione & Scott, 1919), 40, https://wellcomecollection.org/works/m5q4e824/items. --- [c] M. Knoedler & Co. records, Painting Stock Book 6: 12653-15139, 207, stock no. 14840, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2012.M.54. http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2012m54b6. --- [d] Ibid. --- [e] M. Knoedler & Co. records, Sales Book 12, 1921 January-1926 December, 13, stock no. 14840, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2012.M.54. http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2012m54b72. --- [f] M. Knoedler & Co., Old England: Town and Country (A Loan Exhibition of Paintings) (New York: M. Knoedler & Company, 1927), 19, https://library.metmuseum.org:443/record=b1599743~S1. --- [g] M. Knoedler & Co. records, Commission Book 3: C6025-C6048, CA1-CA2090, 1927 August-1943 October, 39, stock no. CA288, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2012.M.54. http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2012m54b95. --- [h] Ibid. --- [j] H. Granville Fell, "From Gallery and Mart," Connoisseur 97, no. 413 (January 1936): 47–50. --- [j] M. Knoedler & Co. records, Painting Stock Book 8: A1-A2680, 1928 January-1943 November, 148, stock no. A1600, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2012.M.54. http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2012m54b8. --- [k] Ibid. --- [l] M. Knoedler & Co. records, Sales Book 13, 1927 January-1936 December, 343, stock no. A1600, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2012.M.54. http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2012m54b73. ---