🏇 English Victorian sporting oil painting of a Purebred Arabian horse in the Bombay Stables, India, c.1900, in the manner of Charles Bilger Spalding

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🎨 Subject & Medium

Impress your guests and clients with this exceptional English Victorian sporting oil painting depicting a magnificent Purebred Red Chestnut Arabian horse standing proudly within the renowned Bombay Stables, India (modern-day Mumbai).

The noble Arabian is portrayed in elegant full side profile beneath a large pale green canvas awning, thoughtfully erected to shelter the horse from the intense Indian midday sun. Beyond the stable yard, the tranquil waters of Bombay Harbour stretch towards the horizon, where a graceful sailing yacht glides across the estuary, creating an evocative Anglo-Indian backdrop.

Executed in oil on board, this beautifully observed work combines refined equestrian portraiture with fascinating colonial history, making it a distinguished addition to any sporting art, equestrian or fine antique collection.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🖌️ Composition & Technique

The artist demonstrates an accomplished understanding of equine anatomy, capturing the Arabian's noble character, athletic build and elegant stance with remarkable confidence. Every detail, from the finely modelled musculature and expressive head to the rich chestnut coat, has been skilfully observed.

Warm earth tones harmonise beautifully with the cool greens of the awning and the soft blue coastal landscape beyond. Delicate tonal modelling and assured brushwork create depth, atmosphere and realism, resulting in a painting that commands attention while retaining a refined sense of elegance.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📜 Historical Context

During the Victorian era, Arabian horses ranked among the most valuable and prestigious bloodlines throughout the British Empire. Bombay was one of Britain's principal commercial, military and sporting centres, where wealthy merchants, cavalry officers and racing enthusiasts maintained exceptional Arabian horses for breeding, racing and ceremonial display.

Sporting portraits such as this were commissioned to commemorate prized horses in much the same way formal portraits celebrated distinguished families. Today, Anglo-Indian sporting paintings remain highly sought after for their historical significance, decorative appeal and enduring investment potential.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

👨🎨 About the Artist

This painting is attributed to an English School artist working circa 1900, executed in the manner of Charles Bilger Spalding (1810–1871).

Spalding was a respected Victorian sporting painter celebrated for his exceptional horse portraits, hunting scenes and racing subjects. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and collaborated with the distinguished publishers S. & J. Fuller. His works continue to enjoy international recognition and remain highly desirable among collectors of nineteenth-century sporting art.

Although unsigned, this painting displays many stylistic characteristics associated with Spalding and other accomplished Victorian sporting artists.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✍️ Signed

Unsigned.

English School.

Painted in the manner of Charles Bilger Spalding.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🖼️ Framed

Presented in its attractive traditional gilt frame, which complements the painting beautifully while enhancing its Victorian character.

Ready for immediate display with hanging cord attached to the reverse.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📏 Size

Frame Dimensions

Height: 34.5 cm

Width: 42 cm

Depth: 4.5 cm

A desirable cabinet-sized painting, perfectly suited to display in a country house, library, office, study or elegant home interior.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📚 Provenance

Original historical labels remain attached to the reverse, documenting part of the painting's ownership history.

• Holloway's Auctioneers, Banbury, Oxfordshire, Lot 97, June 2024 (original auction lot label retained verso).

• Original typed collection label reading:

"Chestnut Arab in the Bombay Stables
Bought from the Anneji
And sold for £980."

• Holloways Fine Art Auction label retained verso.

• Curated by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD.

These original labels accompany the painting and provide an appealing documented ownership history, enhancing both its collectability and provenance.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⭐ Why You'll Love It

✅ Beautifully executed Victorian sporting artwork with exceptional decorative appeal.

✅ Magnificent portrait of a Purebred Arabian horse, one of the world's most admired equine breeds.

✅ Evocative Anglo-Indian historical subject depicting colonial Bombay (modern-day Mumbai).

✅ Painted in the manner of renowned Victorian sporting artist Charles Bilger Spalding.

✅ Retains original provenance labels including Holloway's Auctioneers, Southern Shire Fine Art Auction and the original historical collection label.

✅ Presented in a traditional gilt frame and ready to hang immediately.

✅ A superb addition for collectors of sporting art, equestrian paintings, Anglo-Indian history and fine Victorian antiques.

✅ An elegant statement piece for a country house, library, office, study or refined home interior.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🔍 Condition Report

Offered in good antique condition.

The painting displays the authentic characteristics expected of a work over one hundred years old, including age-related craquelure, areas of foxing and some paint loss towards the outer edges. The colours remain rich and vibrant, and the composition continues to display beautifully.

The traditional gilt frame has general age-related wear including scuffs, surface marks, dust, staining and minor losses commensurate with age. There is also a small tear to the protective paper backing on the reverse.

Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an integral part of the description and condition report.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🌍 Shipping

Worldwide shipping is available via the eBay International Shipping Programme.

Your painting will be professionally packaged using premium protective materials and dispatched fully insured to help ensure safe delivery anywhere in the world.

Viewings are welcome by prior appointment.

If you have any questions or would like additional photographs, please feel free to send us a message—we are always delighted to assist.

Thank you for visiting Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD. We invite you to browse our gallery to discover more carefully curated fine antiques, historic paintings and exceptional works of art.

Happy shopping!