Conformation and the Parade Ring · The Conformation
Lord Jersey's Middleton
Benjamin Marshall, oil on canvas, 1825 · oil on canvas
What it is
Lord Jersey's Middleton plants all four feet square for Ben Marshall, a groom's hand light on the rein.
Why it matters
Marshall painted the sporting aristocracy's champions with none of Stubbs's cool detachment and none of Herring's later formula — his brush stays loose, his colour stays warm, and the horse still reads as an individual rather than a type.
What to notice
Loose, quick brushwork animates the mane, at odds with the tight discipline of the body beneath it.
A portrait can be exact and unbuttoned at once.
Provenance
- Maker
- Benjamin Marshall, oil on canvas, 1825
- Era
- The Georgian Turf (1750–1837)
- Chapter
- The Yard Wakes
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Made
- 1825
- Horse
- Middleton
- Source
- Private collection
Print master
The largest formats are printed from a master enlarged 3× from the surviving 1280×972 scan by AI enhancement (Claid smart-enhance), prepared for the considered detail of a print viewed at distance. The source record above is unchanged — the enhancement serves the wall, not the archive.
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the work’s own year of publication. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-20.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 18x24" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
More from the Stable Wall
Elsewhere in the family
- The Links — the other morning religion.
- Painted Lineage — the bloodline, beside the family line.
- Painted Earth — home ground as a period map.