Lot 64: Arthur Hughes (British 1832-1915)

Description: The pet of the farm
signed 'ARTHUR HUGHES' (lower right)
oil on panel
61.5 x 42 cm. (24 1/4 x 16 1/2 in.)

Provenance: Sir John Gray Hill, Hill sale, Christie's, 11th February, 1911, lot 124, bought for 32gns by Louis; 'Beaulieu', High Beech, Epping;
'Beaulieu' sale, Foster's (on the premises), 25th September, 1928, bought for 7 1/2gns;
Private collection.

Exhibited: Liverpool, Annual Liverpool Autumn Exhibition of Modern Pictures, Free Public Library and Museum, 1874, no. 398 (75gns.).

Literature: Roberts, Leonard, Arthur Hughes: his life and works, Antique Collectors Club, Woodbridge, 1997, cat. no. 137. (p. 185).
Atheneum, 19th September 1874, p.389, and 25 September, 1874, p.409.

Leonard Roberts suggests that the present lot was painted circa 1874, the subject matter being consistent with Hughes' work of this period, and has identified it as number 137 from his catalogue raisonné, which has been unlocated since 1928.

We are grateful to Leonard Roberts for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.