Horses and pigs
(c. 1864)

John Frederick HERRING junior

Medium: oil on canvas
Measurements: 36.5 × 61.5 cm
Inscription: inscribed in brown paint l.l.: J. F. Herring
Accession Number: p.300.16-1
Department: International Painting
Credit Line: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased by the Commissioners of Fine Arts for Victoria, 1864
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Gallery location: Not on display
Subjects (general): Agriculture Animals
Subjects (specific): chicken (species) farms horse (species) livestock pig (genus) pigpens roosters (birds) rural areas
Provenance: Exhibited Royal Academy, London, 1864, no. 248; purchased from the artist, by Sir Charles Eastlake, for the NGV, 1864.
Exhibited: Royal Academy, London, 1864, no. 248; Fine Arts Gallery (Compartment 10), Intercolonial Exhibition, Melbourne, 1866, no. 311; The First Collections: The Public Library and the National Gallery of Victoria in the 1850s and 1860s, Melbourne University Gallery, 1992, no. 7.
Frame: Recycled, 2008, by Isaac Whitehead, Melbourne, 1867-1876

Frame

This frame was thought to be the early framing of this work because of the uncommon elongated format, however the sight dimensions of the frame do not match the rebate damage in the paint layer. The scotia ornament is one of Whitehead's standard forms. The torus ornament of a vine stem and the corner elements of berries and ivy leaves are reminiscent of the decorative work on the unlabelled frame on Nicholas Chevalier's Buffalo Ranges (p.300.7-1). The frame was put together with the painting in 2003 as a reflection of the gallery's approach to framing the early acquisitions of the 1860s. On a number of occasions, early purchases from England were framed by local frame makers, Whitehead, Stevens and Fletcher being most represented.
Framemaker: Isaac Whitehead
Melbourne
Date: 1867-78
Materials: The frame is built on a chassis of solid timber butt-mitred at the corners with applied composition ornament. The surface is matte gilded throughout with the exception of the taenia which is burnished on a black bole.
Condition: The surface carries a lot of spotting and staining but apart from minor repairs is largely original.
Dimensions: 56.0 x 82.5 x 7.0 cm; sight 34.0 x 61.0 cm