The Find, First Spear & The Kill

A set of three individually framed Pig Sticking Watercolours on paper.

The paintings are titled The Find, First Spear and The Kill to the mount below the picture. The Find shows two dogs chasing a boar out of the undergrowth whilst Europeans on horseback and standing natives wait. The First Spear, which is smaller than the other two, shows a rider galloping away from a chasing boar who he has presumably missed with his spear. The Kill shows the group of Europeans and natives around the dead boar, some on horseback, some standing. One is drinking from a canteen whilst an Indian to the centre is holding a closed parasol.

All pictures are titled to the mounts but one painting is also titled to the picture 'After The First Spear' and dated 'May 3 1881'.

Framed Sizes: The Find & The Kill H 16 W 21 D 1 inches. First Spear H 11 1/2 W 15 1/2 D 1 inches.

One of a group of amateur watercolours showing the English in India at Field Sports and on a Line of March. Some of the paintings have been done with a quick hand to capture the moment whilst others are a little more considered. For instance, many of the Europeans are wearing Pith Helmets but they are drawn so quickly that their true shape is not shown. Three small pictures of Pig Sticking, framed together, are dated 1877 and others are dated 1880 and 1881.

They all look to have been framed at a later date, with evidence to the back of one dating the framing to 1923. Before they were framed, it can be seen that most had been folded and some have damage to the paper edges etc. It seems that nearly 50 years after they were painted, the paintings were reconsidered and framed, perhaps by a relative. Watercolour sketches that were done for amusement or as a memory were re-evaluated and seen with a different eye. They are evocative of an age gone by and interesting to us as some show furniture being transported.