The Devon and Somerset Staghounds (The Barle Valley from Winsford Hill) signed and dated 'Lionel Edwards / 1949' (lower left) oil on canvas 75 x 126cm

Provenance: Mr Eric W. Towler by 1986, Thence by descent to the present owner Exhibited: London, The Alpine Gallery, and Leicester, The Leicestershire Museum and Art Gallery, Lionel Edwards R.I., R.C.A 1878-1966, 10th-11th September, and 5th October- 2nd November 1986, no.86

The Devon and Somerset Staghounds hunt the country within the Exmoor National Park and is one of three staghound packs in the UK. It was founded in its present form in 1855 when there were purported to be only 75 deer on Exmoor. It was originally a subscription pack which encouraged local farmers to join the hunt, but also to feed and protect the deer from poachers on their land. By the 1870s, the herd had grown to over 1000 and ever since, red deer have become synonymous with Exmoor. Today the herd is estimated to be more than 2500 in number, which makes it the largest population of wild deer in England. Red deer have been hunted on Exmoor since Norman times when the moor was declared a Royal Forest. The earliest recorded pack of staghounds on Exmoor in 1598 was kept by Hugh Pollard, Elizabeth I’s ranger in Simonsbath. Although stag hunting as it was once practised was outlawed in 2004, the Devon and Somerset Staghounds today, with the support of local farmers and landowners, meet three times a week during the season to manage and observe the deer and operate within the law. They have also become a vital casualty service who identify and locate sick and injured animals. The huntsman riding with the pack in the present painting is Alfred Lenthall. We are grateful to the Devon and Somerset Staghounds for their assistance in identifying the huntsman.

94 x 144cm (framed) The painting is executed in oil on a canvas support which is unlined. The canvas tension is slightly slack with undulations at the upper right corner. Overall the support and paint layers are in a good condition. A square of cardboard has been glued onto the reverse of the canvas at the upper left corner. The purpose for this is unclear and the glue has caused minor deformations to the canvas. There are possibly a couple of pin prick holes in the surface here. There are a few small, scattered losses along the left hand edge and localised areas of overpaint. At the centre of the canvas the paint layer has raised brushstrokes in the surface texture which do not relay to the composition and could be associated with an earlier composition that was reworked. The varnish is even, glossy and slightly yellowed.