(British, 1843-1912)Huntsmen and Hunt Staff at Earth with Hounds and a Terrier, signed lower right "J. Emms/1903", oil on canvas, 92-1/2 x 68-1/4 in.; modern parcel gilt and painted wood frame, 105 x 81 in.Note:ÿA late 19thÿand early 20thÿcentury realist painter, JohnÿEmms was best known for his handsome paintings of horses, hunting dogs and scenes of the local gentry engaged in sport. While little is known ofÿEmms' early training he is likely to have trained with the painterÿLord Frederick LeightonÿandÿEmms' own father, a painter who may have given him his start in the arts.ÿEmmsÿbegan exhibiting at the Royal Academy in London in 1866ÿand by 1872 had settled inÿLyndhurst, England.ÿ The sporting life that he found there and the eccentricities of the gentry suited him and many of the patrons that commissioned his paintings were acquaintances of his from riding and hunting. It was said that he was himself somewhat bohemian and ?colorful,? and in his later years, his lifestyle left him consistently short of funds.This composition is one of the largest that Emms is known to have painted.ÿ - Provenance: Red Fox Fine Art, Virginia; Private Florida Collection unlined, scattered retouch, restretched on newer stretcher, vertical and horizontal stretcher marks, slight dirt layer