Sir Alfred James Munnings, PRA, RWS, (British, 1878-1959)

Buzzie Finch in Munnings's garden at 'Hamiltons', Withypool, Somerset

Buzzie Finch in Munnings's garden at 'Hamiltons', Withypool, Somerset
oil on board
40.7 x 50.8cm (16 x 20in).

Provenance
Lady Munnings.
Tom Slocombe Collection (Munnings's groom), UK (gifted from the above in 1960; inscribed in Lady Munnings's hand 'Given to Tom Slocombe/by Violet Munnings/1960/Buzzie Finch in/the garden' on a label attached to the reverse).
Richard Green Gallery, London, 1981 (acquired from the above).
Sotheby's, London, 10 June 1981, lot 160.
Picton House Gallery, Broadway.
Private collection, UK (acquired from the above in 1983).

The sitter depicted in the present lot, Antoinette De Guerville - 'Buzzie', lived in Exmoor and befriended Violet and Alfred Munnings, primarily due to a shared interest in riding. Buzzie purchased Hillway Farm in Withypool in 1942, where she lived with her husband Keith Falcon, a local land agent. Munnings moved to 'Hamiltons' (a base that Violet kept for hunting) during the Second World War after his house in Dedham was requisitioned by the army. Buzzie was an excellent rider and hunted with the Devon and Somerset Staghounds and with the local packs of foxhounds. According to a letter written by Falcon, Munnings produced several other depictions of Buzzie, wearing the same clothes, including a signed work of her standing, and another of her sitting on the ground.