(British, 1808 - 1893)

Terriers ratting

Oil on canvas

20" x 30"

29" x 39" framed

LL: G. Armfield

SOLD

          An artist of the British school, Armfield (or Smith, as some resources say he was known) painted primarily hunting scenes, genre scenes, landscapes, and animals.  He is best known, however, for his paintings of dogs, and especially for his scenes including various breeds of terriers.  Quite often in his canvases one sees terriers chasing birds, cats or mice, and also scenes of dead game, birds or other wild animals.  Between the years 1840 and 1875, he exhibited canvases in great quantities all over Britain, most notably at the Royal Academy, at the British Institution, and at Suffolk Street.

          Because of the quality of his works, several of his smaller ones were passed off as or re-signed with the signature of the famed Landseer.  These pieces were then sold by merchants as paintings by the English master of animal paintings, a fact very revealing of Armfield's true talent as an animal painter.

          It should be noted that several resources confuse George with a painter named Edward Armfield, who was his cousin.  Both artists painted similar scenes and worked in nearly the same style, so it is rather easy to understand the source of all of the confusion.

Recorded:

Benezit, Emmanuel.  Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs.  (Paris: Librairie Grund,  1999).

Paviere, Sydney H.  A Dictionary of British Sporting Painters.  (The Tithe House, Leigh-on-Sea, England: F. Lewis Publishers Ltd.,  1980).

Collections:

Glasgow: Chiens (Dogs) ;   Liverpool