Pumpkin

George Stubbs, RA (Liverpool 1724 – London 1806). Oil painting on panel, Pumpkin by George Stubbs, RA (Liverpool 1724 – London 1806), signed and dated, bottom right: Geo Stubbs pinx/ it 1773. Pumpkin (1769) by Match'em out of Old Squirt Mare was bred by the jockey John Pratt and owned jointly by the politician Charles James Fox and the Hon. Thomas Foley (later Lord Foley). He was first raced in 1772, went on to win 16 out of his 24 races and was painted several times by Stubbs. The jockey up is Old South, the most celebrated of the day and Pumpkin is shown, in profile to the left, at a gap in the Ditch Mound, Newmarket. A smaller but similar picture is at Windsor and a 'Pumpkin' (1770) was in Lord Rosebery's collection and another portrait of the horse, aclled 'Lord Portland's Pumpkin' dated 1774 belongs to Paul Mellon. He was also included in a series for the Turf Club which was exhibited in 1794. Ascott Estate, Buckinghamshire