Thomas Wilkinson, M.F.H., with the Hurworth Foxhounds

John Ferneley, 1782–1860

1846

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

A group of men and hounds are gathered in a landscape with horses. A man in a red coat rides a brown horse, holding the reins. Several hounds are in the foreground, some lying down and others standing. In the background, more figures on horseback are visible in a rolling landscape under a cloudy sky. Thomas Wilkinson sits astride his bay horse in full and unchallenged supremacy as Master of Foxhounds (MFH) for the Hurworth Hounds, a pack in County Durham that his uncle founded in the late eighteenth century. The title of MFH was held in rotation among the members and was the most senior position, responsible both for the kennels and for leading the hunt in the field. John Ferneley’s painting was commissioned by fellow members of the Hurworth Hounds and presented to Wilkinson as a gift. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection