Let’s rehang some paintings: a glimpse into our personal collection!

Time to get around to some picture hanging that has been on our to do list for a while.

We have gradually been putting together a collection of horse paintings by East Anglian artists, mainly 19th century. They often pop up in local auction rooms and usually don’t cost the earth. They remind us of Suffolk’s agricultural past when every farm and estate was powered by majestic heavy horses. They used to breed Suffolk Punch horses on the land where we live, now they grow asparagus instead.

This collection has been a particularly personal project for us. It brings together pieces that celebrate East Anglian artists and their shared sense of life, in a rural world that has almost disappeared. Horses were at the heart of everything in the countryside, before the Industrial Revolution and First World War. From commerce and agriculture to transport and leisure.

The horse you owned said much about your status; Hackney or Windsor Greys for pulling one’s carriage, a fine thoroughbred for hunting, a pony for the children.

There’s also something really satisfying about ‘rediscovering’ pieces we’ve lived with for years and creating a new conversation by displaying them in a different way. We’re still keeping our eyes peeled in antique shops and auction houses for more works connected to this school.

A few of our long-standing favourites are works by George Thomas Rope (1846-1929), John Duvall (1815-1892), and the Smythe brothers, Edward (1810-1899) and Thomas (1825-1906).

All were contemporaries of the great John Constable at some point in their lives and were no doubt influenced by his joy in capturing the everyday.

We are rather pleased with our little ‘gallery hang’ and there is still space for more equine characters to join our herd.