George Stubbs A.R.A. 1724-1806

Colonel Thomas Thornton (1752-1823), probably offered in his sale, Hickman, 11th May 1820, lot 28 ('A Lion and Lioness');
by descent to his daughter Diana who married Edward Wodehouse, later Thornton-Wodehouse;
by descent to his son Colonel Albert Thornton-Wodehouse (1840-1914);
Anonymous sale, Christie's London, 21 November 1980, lot 29

ENGRAVED:
by George Townly Stubbs, in reverse entitled 'The Lion and the Lioness', 12 August, 1776 (see Christopher Lennox Boyd, Rob Dixon and Tim Clayton, George Stubbs; The Complete Engraved Works, 1989, p. 154, no. 46)

Probably Judy Egerton, George Stubbs, Painter, Catalogue Raisonné, 2007, no.164 (as untraced but with a reproduction of the engraving)

STRUCTURE The canvas has been lined. PAINT SURFACE The painting appears to be in good condition. The edge of the canvas can be seen at the extreme edges on very close inspection. ULTRA VIOLET There has been some heightening to the foliage and to the male lion's head lower right, and minor re-touching overall, to the left of the canvas. FRAME Held in a gilt wood frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The subject in this painting is perhaps best known from George Townly Stubbs' engraving, published in 1776 (Fig.1). By that date, it was a variation on a theme familiar to Stubbs's public through works already exhibited at the Royal Academy. This representation of a peaceable encounter between the lioness and her mate is closest to the more concentrated subject of Stubbs' small enamel painting Lion and Lioness, 1770 (see J. Egerton, George Stubbs, 1984, p. 100, no. 68) which he subsequently repeated in the centre of A Den of Lions, (exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1772 no. 306).

The six years or so since Stubbs first painted such a subject had not staled his approach to it. He borrows some of the branches of fossilised oak from the earlier Lion and Lioness picture and repeats some grasses from A Den of Lions; but both the lioness and the lion are depicted in new attitudes. The lioness's pose recalls that in the Lion and Lioness, but is differently angled; as she senses the lion's approach, she turns her head not to him but to the spectator, her jaw opens in what is probably not a snarl but a low growl of pleasure. In his quiet and steady advance towards her, the lion is seen very nearly at full length, and is portrayed with more nobility than in most of Stubbs' images of lions. His model here may have been a still vigorous lion newly-imported into a menagerie.

According to the entry in the catalogue for the Christie's sale on 21st November 1980, the picture was in the collection of Colonel Thornton and Colonel Thornton Woodehouse (1890).  The celebrated sportsman Colonel Thornton is discussed in detail in the catalogue entry for the following lot.  Thornton's collection of sporty pictures certainly included a number of works by Stubbs.  In his manuscript Memoir of George Stubbs Ozias Humphrey records Colonel Thornton as purchaser of one of the two versions of Phaeton and the Horses of the Sun, and this composition is one of seven pictures by or attributed to Stubbs offered in the Thornton sale on 11th May 1820 by the auctioneer Hickman.  The present composition is probably lot 28, 'A Lion and Lioness'.  It is also probably number 164 in George Stubbs, Painter, Catalogue Raisonné by Judy Egerton, where the engraving is reproduced.  It has also been suggested that it could possibly be lot 80 in the artist's studio sale on 27th May 1807 ('Lion and Lioness, in a rocky Cavern, high finished and extremely beautiful') though there appears to be a discrepancy as to the size.

We are grateful to Judy Egerton for her assistance.