SIR ALFRED MUNNINGS
British, 1878 – 1959
The Hon. Anthony Mildmay on "Davy Jones"
Signed A.J. MUNNINGS
Oil on canvas
36 x 44 inches (91.5 x 111.7 cm)
Framed: 41¾ x 50 inches (106 x 127 cm)
Painted in 1937, this work was commissioned by Francis Bingham Mildmay of Flete to mark his son Anthony Bingham Mildmay's participation in the 1936 Grand National on "Davy Jones". As Munnings describes it in the second volume of his autobiography, "Lord Mildmay wanted a picture of his son on the horse which just missed winning the Grand National through a buckle on the rein giving way two fences from the finish." (Munnings, The Second Burst, p. 151). "Davy Jones", a 100-1 outsider, writes John Fairley, "seemed certain to beat the previous year's winner, "Reynoldstown", but at the crucial moment the reins broke and "Davy Jones" ran out, scattering the spectators beside the jump, with Anthony Mildmay helpless. "Reynoldstown" went on to win. After the war, Mildmay was leading amateur for five seasons, until he was drowned in 1950" (Fairley, Great Racehorses in Art, pp. 175-177).
In 1923, fourteen years prior to the commission of the present work, Lord Mildmay had commissioned Munnings to paint his family on horseback - himself, Lady Mildmay, and Helen and Anthony, their children. That work, Lord and Lady Mildmay of Flete, with their children, Helen and Anthony, with a view towards Ermington in Devonshire, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1924 and, like the present work, remained in the family collection until sold at Christie's, New York on December 1, 1999.
Provenance
Francis Bingham Mildmay, 1st Baron Mildmay of Flete (1861-1947), 1937
Thence by descent (sale, Christie's, New York, December 1, 1999, lot 162, illustrated)
Private Collection, acquired at the above sale, to the present
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, 1938, no. 59
Literature
Lionel Lindsay, A.J. Munnings, R.A.: Pictures of Horses and English Life, London, 1939, p. 147, no. 76, illustrated
Sir Alfred Munnings, The Second Burst, London, 1951, pp. 151-2, illustrated
John Fairley, Great Racehorses in Art, Oxford, 1984, pp. 175-177, illustrated
P.O.R