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Edwin Douglas 1848 - 1914 — Findon's celebrated animal painter in his study at Fox Down. |
This website, created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
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Edwin Douglas 1848 - 1914 — Findon's celebrated animal painter in his study at Fox Down. |
EDWIN JAMES DOUGLAS' DERBY WINNER
Text copyright Valerie Martin 1999
Please note that I cannot enter into correspondence on valuations of paintings nor advise on where best to sell items.
Edwin Douglas was a renowned animal painter and in 1890, at the age of 42, he came to Sussex to live in Crescent Road, Worthing. In the meantime a new house was being built for his family nearby on the South Downs at Findon. He moved into the new property, named Fox Down, to the north of Cissbury Ring in 1892.
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Overall view of Findon c. 1900 from Church Hill. Fox Down can be seen as the only property on the skyline at the top left of the picture. The racing gallops are below the house. Cissbury Ring is the hump on the right. St. John the Baptist Church spire is in the bottom left hand corner. |
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Fox Down in its heyday. The site is now easily recognised as the dumping ground for used stable straw from Josh Gifford's racing stables — Fox Down itself was demolished after Edwin Douglas died in 1914. |
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Interior of the artist's home at Fox Down |
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Fox Down area in 1997 — all that remains are the same Scots pines a hundred years on. |
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My painting of Cissbury Ring from the ilex oaks on the track to Fox Down. |
In Edwin Douglas' day, Fox Down was a luxury house where he kept horned sheep and highland cattle in enclosures on the Sussex downland. These were brought into his studio at Fox Down as models for his famous paintings that were reproduced on postcards and sold worldwide.
Queen Victoria sat on the throne at this time and her son, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) patronised racing and was the most successful royal racehorse owner ever.
Sir Dighton Probyn was the dignified courtier of the day who controlled the royal purse and, to say the least, did not have much time for the sport of kings. Nevertheless, he commissioned the Sussex artist, Edwin Douglas, to paint the Prince's Derby winner of 1896. The finer details and arrangements were made through Sir James Blyth, a friend of Edwin Douglas and for whom he had previously painted Jersey cattle.
Continue to read more of the story of Persimmon.
Back to Edwin James Douglas Index
This is Findon — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
