Benjamin Marshall (8 November 1768 – 29 January 1835)Noakes, Aubrey. 1978. ''Ben Marshall, 1768–1835''. Leigh-on-Sea: F. Lewis. p. 27. . was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

sporting and animal painter. He was a follower of George Stubbs and studied under

Lemuel Abbott Lemuel Abbott (ca. 1730 – April 1776) was an English clergyman and poet. Life Little is known of his background, but he was a curate in Anstey, Leicestershire, and vicar of Thornton. He is known to posterity primarily for his collection of p ...

for three years.

Life

He was born in

Seagrave Seagrave is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It has a population of around 500, measured at the 2011 census as 546, It is north of Sileby and close to Thrussington and Barrow upon Soar. Histor ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

to Charles and Elizabeth Marshall. He initially focused on portrait painting, until at the age of 26 he began to concentrate on horses. He exhibited thirteen pictures, chiefly portraits of racehorses and their owners, at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

, 1801–1812 and 1818–19. His portraits of sporting characters included those of J. G. Shaddick, 1806, and Daniel Lambert, 1807. Two pictures of fighting cocks, exhibited in 1812, were engraved in mezzotint by Charles Turner in the same year with the titles of ''The Cock in Feather'' and ''The Trimm'd Cock''. Other engraved pictures are ''Hap-hazard'' and ''Muly Moloch'', racehorses belonging to the

Earl of Darlington Earl of Darlington is a title that has been created twice, each time in the Peerage of Great Britain. Sophia von Kielmansegg, Countess of Darlington, Baroness von Kielmansegg, half-sister of George I of Great Britain, King George I, was made coun ...

, engraved as a pair by W. and G. Cooke, 1805, from pictures at

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; ''The Earl of Darlington and his Foxhounds'', by T. Dean, 1805, and the companion subject, ''Francis Dukinfield Astley and his Harriers'', by R. Woodman, 1809; ''Sir Teddy'', mezzotint by Charles Turner, 1808; ''Sancho'', a pointer belonging to Sir John Shelley, etched by Charles Turner in 1808; and ''Diamond'', a racehorse, engraved in mezzotint by W. Barnard in 1811. Sixty paintings of sportsmen, horses, and dogs by Marshall were engraved by John Scott for Wheble's ''Sporting Magazine'', vols. vii-lxxxi., and eight types of horses by Marshall, also engraved by Scott, appeared in ''The Sportsman's Repository'', 1820. Marshall's exhibited and engraved works represent but a small proportion of the commissions which he carried out for patrons of the turf and masters of hounds throughout the country. A number of his pictures of horses are in the collection of Sir

Walter Gilbey Sir Walter Gilbey, 1st Baronet, (2 May 1831 – 12 November 1914) was an English wine-merchant, horse-breeder, author, and philanthropist. Early life Gilbey was born at 11, Windhill, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire to Henry Gilbey (1789– ...

. About 1800–1810, Marshall was living at 23 Beaumont Street,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

. In 1812 he relocated to Newmarket, and was often described as "Marshall of Newmarket". He was seriously injured in a coach crash in 1819 which prevented him from painting for a year, and left him with permanent disability. He became a regular contributor of letters about horse racing in ''

The Sporting Magazine ''The Sporting Magazine'' (1793–1870) was the first English sporting periodical to devote itself to every type of sport. Its subtitle was "Monthly Calendar of the Transactions of the Turf, the Chase and Every Other Diversion Interesting to the ...

'' from 1821 until 1833, writing under the pseudonym 'The Observator'. He died on 29 January 1835. His son Lambert Marshall (13 November 1809- 25 May 1873) was also a sporting painter but without the success of his father. He was reduced to teaching drawing in BrightonBrighton Gazette, 11 September 1856, p.4 and finally the Workhouse there.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Benjamin 18th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century English painters 1768 births 1835 deaths 19th-century English male artists 18th-century English male artists