Lot 199: Joseph Urbain Melin (French, 1814-1886) Portrait of a grey horse before a landscape

Portrait of a grey horse before a landscape
signed and dated 'J. Melin/1883' (lower left),
oil on canvas,
35 x 45.5cm (13 3/4 x 17 15/16in).

Provenance:
sale, Dreweatt, Watson and Barton, 1961 or 1962, House sale of a property of the Marquess of Aylesbury, Savernake Forest.

It has been suggested that the horse depicted in this painting may be a cross-breed with a Fresian stallion (in particular, the similarity of the low set tail), such those bred by Napoleon, to provide the French army with better and stronger horses. Pure-bred Fresian stallions were jet black, but cross breeding with a good mare that was deemed suitable, could result in any colour, such as the grey in the present painting.