"Dogs with pheasant breaking cover" (c. 1850 England)

D197. George Armfield (1808-1893) who was known as George Armfield Smith until 1840, was born in Wales, his father William Armfield Hobday being a well known portrait painter with a studio in London.

Although he displayed a considerable talent for drawing at an early age he was apprenticed to a fishing tackle maker; however before he reached his 16th birthday he had devoted himself to painting and because of his obvious talent, rapidly found an outlet for pictures.

He rapidly devoted himself to animals, concentrating mainly on dogs for which he had an obvious talent and indeed became one of, if not the most important artist in this field. Before the end of the 1830's he was exhibiting at the Royal Academy, initially under the family name of Smith, but later as Armfield. In all he exhibited some 37 paintings at the R.A. and from 1850 he also showed at the Royal Society of British Artists and continued to do so until 1875. His first paintings were hung at the British Institution in 1839, the titles being “Study of a dogs head” and “ Terrier chasing a rabbit”.

Although dogs were by far his most important subject he also painted other animals. Examples of his work are in many places, including the Walker and Glasgow Art Galleries.

This picture, which is still in its original frame, is in excellent untouched order. It is one of his larger works, being just under 18" in diameter. £6,650.

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