EQUESTRIAN
Hunting for
the Hunt
By Philip Hoare
F.T.V.I
Collecting hunting
memorabilia
Part of the tradition linked to fox
hunting is the Hunt Ball, once an
exclusive enclave, but now open to all.
This year it was held on 28th
April at the magnificent Westover
Park, the countryseat of William
and Suzie Tudor-Smith.
Since the banning of fox hunting
by our present government in 2004
bringing to an end hundreds of
years of our country tradition there
has been a considerable and marked
interest in all things hunting
related both by private collectors
and investors who undoubtedly
anticipate a significant rise in their
values as this traditional form of
hunting becomes another facet of
our hunting heritage which is lost.
Hunting prints which were once
an essential decoration for the
country house and then became
rather passé and undesirable are
now back in demand. There is of
course a strong hunting tradition
in the United States, which dates
back to the colonial time of the
18th Century; Americans have
always been keen collectors and
lovers of our history and since
the banning of here they seem to
want to acquire as much of our
hunting tradition as they can.
By the end of the 17th Century,
hunting foxes with horsemen
and hounds had become an
established pastime for the wealthy
landowners and by the middle
of the 18th Century there were
many packs specifically for fox
hunting. Then came the Industrial
Revolution, which changed our
countryside forever, dividing
the landscape by road building,
rail and canal construction.
command very high prices, but his
original prints are very affordable
and well worth collecting.
Other than pictures, the
accoutrements of hunting are
very collectable; a good Victorian
silver Stirrup Cup for instance is
now worth between £4,000/6,000
and ceramic and horn examples
can be acquired for a few hundred
pounds; hunting horns are also
very collectable and occasionally
these are found in silver.
As with most country
communities the Isle of Wight has a
long hunting tradition dating from
the first half of the 19th Century.
It is unique hunting country as
- life
the boundaries on every side are
the sea and the mild climate is
a great advantage too. I wonder
what George Sherston would
have thought had he ridden to
hounds with the Isle of Wight
Hunt. Whatever one’s view about
fox hunting it cannot be denied
that in this culturally diverse
society, banning it has denied us
another part of our rich heritage.
I am sure that the values of all
hunting memorabilia will continue
to rise as has happened in the
world of militaria as more and
more people became nostalgic
about our lost way of life.
It was during this period that
the structured tradition of fox
hunting as we know it evolved
with set codes of etiquette on the
field and the uniform of black top
hat, silk stock with elaborate pin,
scarlet frock coat, breeches and
high black boots; “The epitome
of a hunting gentleman”.
There is no doubt that the cut
and dash of our cavalry elite was
honed on the hunting fields of
England after the Enclosure Act
of 1845. Victorian huntsmen
had to jump farther, higher and
much more frequently than their
predecessors; indeed it was not
a sport for the faint hearted.
At this time too it became no
longer the preserve of the elite and
there was a growing classlessness
on the hunting field; indeed Mr
Jorrocks, the hunting grocer,
summed up the thoughts of most
country people in his apostrophe
“all time is lost not spent ‘unting”.
This view was captured by
the great hunting artists of the
day such as John Fernley and
perhaps the greatest Henry Alkin.
His name is synonymous with
hunting during the reign of Queen
Victoria and there was scarcely a
time when Alkin was not either
at the easel or in the saddle. He
was a very prolific painter of all
hunting subjects. His original
pictures are extremely valuable and
Sponsored by Froghill and Brickfields
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