James Seymour (London 1702-1752)
A brown thoroughbred, traditionally identified as 'Spanking Roger', held by a groom before an extensive landscape
signed with initials and dated 'J.S.,/ 1745' (lower left)
oil on canvas
76.7 x 133cm (30 3/16 x 52 3/8in).
Footnotes:
Provenance
Curry Sale, American Art Association, New York, 12-14 May 1932, lot 485
Martha C. Babcock and Lewis M. Gibb, by descent to their daughter
Martha Gibb Bayne (b. 1928), by descent to her children
Cynthia P. Bayne and William Bayne

Seymour was an early rival to John Wootton, to whom Horace Walpole thought him superior at drawing horses, but too idle to apply himself to his profession. Among his chief patrons was Charles Seymour, 3rd Duke of Somerset, for whom he decorated a room at Petworth. He is purported to have lived so extravagantly at Newmarket that he caused his father, a wealthy banker, to die bankrupt in 1739.

The current owner's grandfather raised thoroughbreds in Virginia and the family continued to be horse-lovers, including participating in show jumping.
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