As a nation of animal lovers, it is no surprise that paintings of animals have long been a very popular area of collecting for the British Public. Be that pictures of our own domestic animals, or scenes that echo our nostalgia for the English Countryside and traditional sporting pursuits, we have adorned our houses with them for centuries.
The sale encompasses oil paintings, watercolours, prints and sculptures from the 17th Century to the present day, including a section of taxidermy fish and birds. The different categories within the sale ensure a varied content, from traditional 18th and 19th Century hunting and equestrian subjects to racing pictures, ornithological and wildlife art, also including paintings of dogs. For collectors, it provides an eclectic mix of styles, genres and price points from the mid hundreds upwards in a variety of mediums to suit any home including work by the finest animal artists of the present day.
We are currently inviting entries and looking for work by artists including George Earl, John Emms, John Ferneley, Heywood Hardy, John Cyril Harrison, John Frederick Herring, Sir Alfred Munnings, John Nost Sartorius, Sir Peter Markham Scott, James Seymour, David Shepherd, Archibald Thorburn, Arthur Wardle, George Wright to name but a few.
If you would like to speak with a specialist or arrange a valuation either at our Stansted, Hertford, or London offices, or a home visit, please contact us.
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Want to know how much your Sporting, Wildlife, and Dog Art may be worth? Fill out our easy to use form and a member of the team will be in touch with free advice shortly.
Our specialists hold regular valuation days. Please contact us for more information, or complete the online form to enquire about the valuation of your items.
Here, close friend, art historian and former Senior Curator of Modern British Art at Tate, Andrew Wilson, offers an insight into James Birch’s remarkable collection and the extraordinary life behind it. Having known James since the late 1980s, Andrew has witnessed first-hand his restless curiosity, his friendships with artists and his instinct for the unusual.
15 September 2026
Art dealer, curator, gallerist and author James Birch has spent more than four decades championing artists and staging groundbreaking exhibitions. This October, approximately 300 works from his private collection come to auction at Sworders, tracing a remarkable career from the King’s Road to Moscow and beyond.
Day One of our autumn Modern & Contemporary Art auction will be celebrate The James Birch Collection, offering bidders an exciting opportunity to purchase works from Birch's private collection.
27 August 2026
