From Tuesday 24 May to Sunday 12 June, visitors to the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket, Suffolk, will be offered a rare opportunity to view a collection of over 40 paintings, watercolours and drawings spanning the 60 year career of one of the world’s most loved equestrian artists.
18 May 2022
Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959): A Life of his Own presents a collection of works that tell the story of the transition of the artist’s early years working in rural Suffolk and Norfolk to his election as President of the Royal Academy in 1944. This will be the very first time that some of the works will have been publicly exhibited.
Sold for £33,500 inc fees in 2014
Sir Alfred James Munnings PRA RWS (1878-1959) A LADY ON A HUNTER JUMPING A HEDGE, watercolour and bodycolour, 27 x 36cm
Sworders specialists were honoured to take residence at the NHRM earlier this Spring to host a valuation day for Sporting Art. Charles II spent time in Newmarket as a child and returned to the town after his restoration to the throne to construct a new palace in 1671. His private quarters, including his bedroom, survives as Palace House which today is home to the British Sporting Art Trust. The museum tells the story of horseracing from its earliest origins to the world-wide phenomenon it is today and was awarded a rare gold accolade by VisitEngland in November 2021.
The King's Bedroom at Palace House
A number of impressive works were consigned in conjunction with our valuation day at the NHRM - to be offered in our auction of Sporting Art on Tuesday 31 May. Charles Walter Simpson's oil on canvas of ‘Golden Miller Winning the Grand National from Delaneige 1934’ came in at £6,000-8,000, whilst a Lionel Dalhousie Robertson Edwards watercolour ‘Ascot - The Start of the Hunt Cup’ carries an estimate of £10,000-15,000. The Hunt Cup is held on the second day of the Royal Ascot meeting in June and is one of the week’s three trophy races alongside the Gold Cup and the Queen’s Vase. Ascot was founded by Queen Anne in 1711 and the Hunt Cup later established in 1843. Covering a distance of one mile, Edwards captures the start of this prestigious event.
Lot 98 | Sporting Art, Wildlife & Dogs - Tuesday 31 May 2022
Lionel Dalhousie Robertson Edwards (1878-1966) Ascot - The Start of the Hunt Cup, signed '...Edwards' l.r., watercolour, 31 x 50.5cm
Estimate £10,000-15,000
Events and exhibitions at the NHRM are included in the price of general admission, with tickets available to purchase online here
National Horseracing Museum
Palace Street, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8EP
T: 01638 667314
E: info@nhrm.co.uk
W: www.nhrm.co.uk
Our auction of Sporting Art will be available to view at our Stansted Mountfitchet Auction Rooms on Sunday 29 May (10am - 1pm), Monday 30 May (9am - 5pm) and the morning of the sale on Tuesday 31 May (9am - 1pm).
For more information, please contact Head of Department –
Jane Oakley
T: 01279 817778
E: janeoakley@sworder.co.uk
Few figures in the art and antiques world have shaped taste and defied convention quite like Ken Bolan. From the glamour of continental showrooms to the quiet beauty of rewilded West Country landscapes, Ken’s journey has been one of bold vision and creative instinct. This landmark sale, to be held on Wednesday 24 September, opens a window into that world – a personal collection amassed over five decades, filled with sculpture, furniture, and design with soul and story.
7 July 2025
A major highlight of our forthcoming 'DREAMS | A Unique Private Collection' sale on 9 July is a remarkable archive of letters and manuscripts by John Ruskin (1819–1900), the celebrated Victorian polymath. This unparalleled group – numbering in the hundreds – is believed to be the largest collection of Ruskin correspondence in private hands and spans a vast range of topics from art and architecture to politics, religion, and personal reflection.
2 July 2025
'The Scented Garden of Abdullah the Satirist of Shiraz' - also known as 'The Bagh-i-Muattar' - quickly caught the attention of our book specialists, when a copy bound in full vellum was brought in by a local client to our weekly valuation day.
2 July 2025