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THBPercival Rosseau (1859-1937), A Moment's Rest - Foxhounds at the Ford
About Seller
20 Winter Street
Pembroke, MA 02359
United States
Founded in 2005, Copley Fine Art Auctions is a boutique auction house specializing in antique decoys and American, sporting, and wildlife paintings. Over the course of the last two decades, the firm has set auction records for not only individual decoy makers, but also entire carving regions. Copley...Read more
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About Auction
LiveFeb 21, 2025
Lots 1-261 Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com
View Full Catalog (261)
- Lot Description
Percival Rosseau (1859-1937)
A Moment's Rest - Foxhounds at the Ford, 1926
signed and dated "Rosseau 1926" lower left
oil on canvas, 18 1/8 by 24 1/4 in.
titled on back
Percival Rosseau was born near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1859. Although considered a premier painter of sporting dogs, he did not pick up a paintbrush until the age of thirty-five. After leaving an eclectic business career, Rosseau sailed to Paris to attend the Academie Julian. His entry at the 1904 Paris Salon, a painting of a pair of Irish wolfhounds, garnered pivotal acclaim. He returned to the United States where he found a ready market for his work among wealthy sportsmen, including Percy Rockefeller, nephew of oil tycoon John. D. Rockefeller and a successful businessman in his own right. "By the 1920s the sport [of fox hunting at Overhills] fell under the influence if not patronage of Percy Rockefeller. Its character rapidly evolved to become more consistent with the sport's status among America's elite. With proper facilities in place, a pack led by one of the leading breeders and foxhunters of the day was brought to Overhills each season," according to "Overhills Oral History."
"The greatest natural challenge presented by the terrain came in the form of the ubiquitous pocosins and streams that dissected the land. ...Although most hunts were small-scale, private affairs with a handful of friends as a hunt party, they were formal, rich with the traditions of proper attire, the finest hounds, and horses. In at least one episode in the 1920s, scenes of hunters at Overhills were featured in the New York Times.
"From 1925 until his death in 1937, Rosseau spent his summers in Lyme and winters at Overhills where he painted numerous hunt scenes and bird dogs."
In this painting, a spirited pack of twelve hounds and one horse and rider takes a break in the water. Rosseau's finest works capture dogs lapping at water's edge, and this painting also includes the rare equestrian. Of the many works by Rosseau to appear at public auction, only three depict equestrians, including a likely related 1925 work, titled "Fox Hunting in the Carolinas" and painted for Percy Rockefeller.
The title, "A Moment's Rest - Foxhounds at the Ford," implies a specific location where the pack often crossed the river, and allows the artist to display his mastery in depicting the refracted water, including the hunter's red jacket reflected at lower center. The date of the painting, 1926, is at the height of fox hunting at Overhills, which ended in 1935 upon the death of Percy Rockefeller. Rosseau himself died at Overhills several years later, making this painting an important artifact of fox hunting's golden age in America.
Literature: Jeffrey D. Irwin and Kaitlin O'Shea, "Overhills Oral History," Fort Bragg, NC, 2009, pp. 17-19.Condition
Please email condition report requests to leah@copleyart.com.
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