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Lot Essay
Mundig, meaning 'of age' in German, was so-called because his owner, John Bowes (1811-1885), turned twenty-one the year of the horse's 1835 Derby win. Bowes was born at Streatlam Castle, the son of John Lyon-Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1769-1820) and Mary Milner. Because his parents were unmarried at the time of his birth, he did not inherit the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne title, though he inherited the estates. A member of the Jockey Club, he owned Streatlam Stud and bred and raised racehorses at Streatlam and Gibside.
Mundig was a chestnut colt by Catton out of Emma. He pulled off a betting coup for Mr Bowes and his trainer, John Scott, by winning the 1835 Derby on his race debut, beating the Earl of Orford's Ascot by half a neck, despite four false starts. Scott purportedly celebrated the victory by dining alone at Crockford's.
The present scene shows Mundig with William Scott up and the other thirteen runners. When C. Hunt's print after the painting was published in Bell's Life on 14 June 1835, Herring wrote to the editor that 'In this instance particularly have I received the most liberal assistance from Mr John Scott, allowing me every facility in the getting up of my portrait, and also by Mr William Scott, who has very kindly sat to me. Of the success of my labours the public will (as soon as the print is out) be able to form their own opinion'. He also very carefully described 'the properties' of Mundig as he perceived them, providing an insight into the way he studied his subject with particular understanding of its anatomy:
'Mundig, it will be remembered, is by Catton, and generally speaking the 'Cattons' have not the most pleasant head. The head of Mundig is certainly large but lean, but though I have heard him called 'sour-headed', when saddling, I cannot see it myself. His neck is strong, but not loaded; perhaps this may be owing to Mr Scott's good management. His breast and shoulders are the strongest for a three-year-old I ever recollect, at the same time not heavy, but beautifully formed. His withers not particularly high, his arms are very large, with legs that seem to defy any sort of ground to affect them. He is very deep in the girthing place, with capital fore-ribs, but if anything low in the back, though in a very trifling degree, with good loins and back-ribs; his hips are large and his quarters very long, with immense thighs, hocks; and made in the best form for climbing a hill, being higher behind than before. His colour is a good chestnut with one white hind-leg.'
The horses in the background of the painting appear to have been chosen on aethetic grounds according to the balance of colours in the jockeys' silks, rather than the order in which they were placed in the race. The horses in the near foreground of the composition from left to right are Lord Jersey's Ibrahim, the Duke of Richmond's Elizondo, Lord Warwick's Pelops, and Mr Rizdale's Stockpot. From left to right in the middleground they are Mr Risdale's Luck's All, Sir Gilbert Heathcote's Valentissimo, Mr Robinson's Stockpot, the Duke of Cleveland's colt by Memmen and Mr Peel's Trim. In the distant background, by process of deduction, the remaining horses must be Lord Jersey's Silenus, Mr Pettit's colt also named Ibrahim, the Duke of Rutland's Florestan and Ascot, who finished second. Notably, the horses in the print after the painting are arranged in yet another order.
Mundig went on to win the foal stakes at Doncaster, the day after finishing unplaced in the St. Leger, and the Newmarket St. Leger. He won places at York and Nottingham before retiring to stud at Clipson, Market Harborough, at a fee of ten guineas. He became known as a particularly savage stallion, on one occasion even killing a man.
Mundig was a chestnut colt by Catton out of Emma. He pulled off a betting coup for Mr Bowes and his trainer, John Scott, by winning the 1835 Derby on his race debut, beating the Earl of Orford's Ascot by half a neck, despite four false starts. Scott purportedly celebrated the victory by dining alone at Crockford's.
The present scene shows Mundig with William Scott up and the other thirteen runners. When C. Hunt's print after the painting was published in Bell's Life on 14 June 1835, Herring wrote to the editor that 'In this instance particularly have I received the most liberal assistance from Mr John Scott, allowing me every facility in the getting up of my portrait, and also by Mr William Scott, who has very kindly sat to me. Of the success of my labours the public will (as soon as the print is out) be able to form their own opinion'. He also very carefully described 'the properties' of Mundig as he perceived them, providing an insight into the way he studied his subject with particular understanding of its anatomy:
'Mundig, it will be remembered, is by Catton, and generally speaking the 'Cattons' have not the most pleasant head. The head of Mundig is certainly large but lean, but though I have heard him called 'sour-headed', when saddling, I cannot see it myself. His neck is strong, but not loaded; perhaps this may be owing to Mr Scott's good management. His breast and shoulders are the strongest for a three-year-old I ever recollect, at the same time not heavy, but beautifully formed. His withers not particularly high, his arms are very large, with legs that seem to defy any sort of ground to affect them. He is very deep in the girthing place, with capital fore-ribs, but if anything low in the back, though in a very trifling degree, with good loins and back-ribs; his hips are large and his quarters very long, with immense thighs, hocks; and made in the best form for climbing a hill, being higher behind than before. His colour is a good chestnut with one white hind-leg.'
The horses in the background of the painting appear to have been chosen on aethetic grounds according to the balance of colours in the jockeys' silks, rather than the order in which they were placed in the race. The horses in the near foreground of the composition from left to right are Lord Jersey's Ibrahim, the Duke of Richmond's Elizondo, Lord Warwick's Pelops, and Mr Rizdale's Stockpot. From left to right in the middleground they are Mr Risdale's Luck's All, Sir Gilbert Heathcote's Valentissimo, Mr Robinson's Stockpot, the Duke of Cleveland's colt by Memmen and Mr Peel's Trim. In the distant background, by process of deduction, the remaining horses must be Lord Jersey's Silenus, Mr Pettit's colt also named Ibrahim, the Duke of Rutland's Florestan and Ascot, who finished second. Notably, the horses in the print after the painting are arranged in yet another order.
Mundig went on to win the foal stakes at Doncaster, the day after finishing unplaced in the St. Leger, and the Newmarket St. Leger. He won places at York and Nottingham before retiring to stud at Clipson, Market Harborough, at a fee of ten guineas. He became known as a particularly savage stallion, on one occasion even killing a man.