Bonhams will hold its first Racing Sale at Newmarket on 20 July featuring every aspect of horse related art from paintings to sculpture and jewellery to winning jockey’s silks.



Bonhams’ East Anglian Director Mary Axon, comments: “We’ve wanted to hold a Racing Sale at Newmarket for sometime now. It’s the historic centre of English racing and we thought it would be a great opportunity to celebrate a national passion which has over the years inspired artists and craftsmen alike.”



‘Owners didn’t just commission pictures’, continues Mary Axon ‘we have a pretty 19th century diamond brooch of a horse and jockey decorated with the Cunningham colours, which were successful in the Ayr Gold Cups of 1893 and 1895, and we are selling the original jockey silks with this brooch which is estimated at £1000-1500. The physique of the race horse naturally lends itself beautifully to sculpture and we have several bronzes in the sale including one by French artist, Pierre Jules Mene (1810-1871) dating from the mid 19th century and depicting two rather magnificent horses side by side – it’s very striking and estimated at £3000-5000.



The Suffolk market town is home to the world famous Newmarket Race-Course, the Jockey Club, the National Stud and the National Racing Museum and race horses are as much a part of the town centre as it’s elegant architecture.



Racing has attracted artists since the late 18th and early 19th century but the history of racing at Newmarket dates back to the early 17th century. Charles II’s involvement from the mid 17th century secured Newmarket’s future at the heart of British racing. Royal patronage, glamour, money and the physical power and beauty of the horses fuelled the careers of racing artists and artisans who produced paintings and objets d’art aimed at the wealthy owners and patrons of the racing world. Bonhams’ sale includes several early 19th century pictures depicting champion race-horses, with stylised elongated legs, and many of these paintings were probably commissioned by owners to capture their moment of triumph.



Bonhams already have a reputation for holding specialised sporting pictures and sporting gun sales at their Knightsbridge saleroom in London but the company have a long established standing in East Anglia and Newmarket seemed the most natural venue for the sale.



Mary Axon continues: ‘We’re holding the sale just after the July Festival at Newmarket, so racing will be very much on everybody’s mind and we’ve got some fabulous items which will give the auction a great atmosphere.’



Early last year Bonhams secured a collection of work from the studio of racing and hunting artist, Peter Biegel (1913-1988). The collection includes both paintings and drawings, and there are some animated sketches by Biegel which capture the action on the race-course.



Peter Biegel started his career in the City but after five years he decided that he wanted to become an artist and resigned with the prospect of a far less lucrative lifestyle as a student at Bushey Art College. A chance meeting, on a train, with the commercially successful sporting artist, Lionel Edwards, was inspirational – he became Lionel’s sole pupil and Biegel learnt to capture the extraordinary and sometimes unpredictable relationship between horses and people.



Mary Axon says: ‘Peter Biegel was able to recreate a racing scene with real energy, he gets the detail just right and you feel the nervous anticipation of the horses and jockeys, – one of my favourite drawings in the collection is a little sketch of a race official holding the flag just before the off -it’s a beautifully observed piece.’



Amongst the more functional equestrian objects included in the Bonhams’ sale ar e a set of jockey scales, some bone handled jockey boot pulls and a engraved veterinary fleam, used for blood letting. Mary Axon continues: ‘We do have some unusual items and a couple of great talking points for the dinning table – a little cruet set by Elkington and Co modelled as a boot shaped mustard and pepper and a jockey cap salt (£120-180) and there’s a horse shoe candelabra(£80-100). It will be interesting to what else is consigned before the closing date on June 7.’

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