19th Century Oil Painting Gordon Setter with Irish Red & White Hunt Dogs By Colin Graeme Roe
19th Century Masterpiece — Oil Painting
Gordon Setter with Irish Red & White Gun Dogs in the Scottish Highlands By Colin Graeme (British, fl. 1858–1910)
─────────────────────────────────────────
Subject & Medium 🎨🐾
This late-Victorian, c.1880 sporting portrait represents a refined example of gundog portraiture: a Gordon Setter and an Irish Red & White Setter shown half-length, in profile, poised in upland terrain and oriented toward the scent. The composition isolates the dogs’ heads and shoulders to convey the concentrated stillness and alertness characteristic of hunting practice.
Executed in oil on an original Winsor & Newton prepared board — a commercially produced, period-appropriate support favoured by professional British painters of the late 19th century — the work benefits from a stable, fine-grained ground suitable for detailed rendering and for transportation in commissioned practice.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Composition & Technique 🖌️🎯
Graeme employs a deliberately economical composition: the restricted view amplifies psychological presence and directs attention to expression and physiognomy. A warm mid-tone ground unifies the picture plane; translucent glazes build volume and depth; and disciplined, directional brushwork defines coat texture and feathering. Selective impasto accents the eyes, muzzle and lips, animating the subjects without excess.
The Highland landscape is handled more broadly and atmospherically: rolling moorland and distant hills dissolve into cool greys and mauves to create spatial recession and to situate the sitters within authentic upland shooting country. Heather in the foreground reinforces topographical veracity.
─────────────────────────────────────────
About the Breeds 🐕🐕🦺
Gordon Setter: Bred for strength, endurance and dependability in Scottish uplands; here rendered with accurate anatomy and tonal depth that convey the breed’s characteristic head carriage and dense black-and-tan coat.
Irish Red & White Setter: A rarer, historically older setter variety, valued for stamina and nose in rough cover; its lighter coat provides chromatic balance and compositional rhythm.
Together the two breeds embody the Victorian ideal of the gundog as an essential, highly trained working partner rather than a merely decorative element.
─────────────────────────────────────────
About the Artist 🎨
Colin Graeme specialised in sporting subjects and gundog portraiture. Born into a prominent artistic family and initially signing works as Colin Graeme Roe, he later abbreviated his name professionally. His practice combined anatomical precision with painterly refinement. Examples of his work appear in regional public collections (notably Sheffield and Dudley), and his market record includes notable auction results (including a reported sale above $14,000 USD at Christie’s London), indicating continued collector interest.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Signed ✍️
Signed lower corner: Colin Graeme. The verso bears a Winsor & Newton prepared-panel label consistent with late-19th-century manufacture, supporting the painting’s period attribution.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Historical Significance 📜🏰
This painting belongs to the golden age of British sporting art, when field sports were integral to country-house identity. Gundog portraits functioned as documentary records of prized stock and as symbols of sporting status; they were typically displayed in gun rooms, libraries and shooting lodges. Paired setter portraits with Highland settings are particularly desirable for combining breed portraiture with landscape and for reinforcing the prestige associated with upland shooting.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Dimensions (Framed) 📏
Height: 36 cm
Width: 31 cm
Depth: 5 cm
An intimate, cabinet scale that reads strongly at close range and integrates well into curated interiors.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Framed 🖼️
Presented in a later gilt gesso decorative frame chosen to complement the painting’s Victorian character. The work is ready to hang (hanging cord attached verso). The frame enhances visual presence and may be sympathetically conserved or replaced to suit the purchaser’s preference.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Collecting Context — Hunting & Sporting Art 🏰🐾
Late 19th–early 20th century sporting paintings were avidly collected by landed gentry, Masters of Hounds and shooting patrons. Prominent private collections and country houses — including those associated with families such as the Rothschilds and estates like Badminton — shaped taste and established benchmarks for gundog portraiture. High-quality, well-preserved cabinet-scale examples such as this are increasingly scarce.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Provenance 🗂️
Acquired from Hartleys Auction (Yorkshire), Lot 427.
Previously in a private Yorkshire vendor collection — a region historically associated with sporting estates and hunting culture.
Curated and catalogued by Cheshire Antiques Consultant Ltd.
Exhibited: Victorian Sporting Art: Dogs, Field, and Country Life, Famous Lord Hill Museum, January 2026.
Public market appearances recorded on LiveAuctioneers (listing and auction provenance). Archival documentation (auction catalogue page, museum catalogue entry) is being assembled to complete the documentary record.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Condition Report 📋
Offered in good, used condition consistent with age and original materials. The paint film is stable overall; there is minor surface foxing and small, localized paint losses visible on close inspection. No active flaking observed at time of examination. The panel support appears sound with no obvious modern structural intervention from surface inspection. Frame exhibits age-related wear including surface abrasion, craquelure and minor gesso loss.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Why You’ll Value This Work ⭐
• Museum-quality subject in an elegant cabinet scale.
• Rare paired-setter composition with authentic Highland landscape.
• Strong provenance, exhibition history and established market visibility.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Display & Placement Advice 💡
Recommended for a study, gun room, library or country-house interior, or as part of a curated sporting salon hang. Display under low-glare directional lighting with UV filtering to preserve colour and surface integrity.
─────────────────────────────────────────
Worldwide Shipping & Purchase 📦
Professionally packed and fully insured for international delivery. The painting is ready for immediate installation. Click “Buy It Now” to proceed with purchase and shipping arrangements.
─────────────────────────────────────────
