John Ferneley, Snr.

Sir James Boswell, Bart
Thence by descent in the Boswell family until 1969
Arthur Ackermann & Sons, Ltd., London
Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Thune, Greenwich, Connecticut
Mr. H. Ward Reighly, New Caanan, Connecticut
La Salle College Art Gallery
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, April 11, 1984, lot 161, illustrated
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Major G. Paget, The Melton Mowbray of John Ferneley, Leicester, 1931, p. 98, no. 119

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is in very healthy condition. The canvas has fairly recently been lined, perhaps in the last forty years. The paint layer is stable and clean, and should be hung as is. Typically, for pictures of this period, some cracking has been retouched around the feet of the jockey on the lower left and around the feet and right bicep of the owner. Some cracking in the stomach of the horse has been retouched slightly yet elsewhere, apart from a couple of spots in the upper sky on the left side, there appears to be no other restoration. Abrasion does not appear to have occurred and this painting is clearly in good condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

General Chassé, named for David Hendrik Chassé, a famous solider and governor of Antwerp, was a prized, liver chestnut thoroughbred belonging to Sir James Boswell (1807-1857). He was the son of the chestnut thoroughbred Acteon, out of the mare Hambletonia, and descended from the famous 18^th Century British thoroughbred  Eclipse.

 

Ferneley features General Chassé with the jockey J. Holmes and attended by an unnamed trainer. Holmes wears the racing silks of Sir Boswell's stable. The backdrop is the old grandstand at Aintree Racecourse, home of the Grand National since 1836.

 

General Chassé is also depicted in John Frederick Herring, Sr.'s, The Doncaster Cup of 1835 with Lord Westminster's Colt Touchstone, with William Scott Up, Mr. Richardson's Colt Hornsea and Sir J. Boswell's General Chassé.