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Henry Charles WoollettThe Chester Horse Fair
$15,000
£11,433.26
€13,187.07
CA$21,304.49
A$22,893.91
CHF 12,283.91
MX$269,676.27
NOK 154,456.56
SEK 141,095.07
DKK 98,554.95
About the Item
Fairs have played a central role in the city of Chester for nearly a millennium and can be traced back to 1092, when Earl Hugh I granted Chester Abbey all the tolls, rents, and issues of a three- day fair for the feast of St. Werburg, held in mid-June. In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the fairs still lasted a month at Midsummer and a fortnight at Michaelmas. By the mid- 16th century, the city had begun to host horse fairs as well.
In the late 17th century, attendance at the Chester fairs was in decline until Charles II granted the city a third fair, held on the last Thursday in February 1685, for horses and horned cattle. In 1705, the fair was moved to a new location on Foregate Street.
In 1830, the fairs were still “great marts for the sale of various sorts of goods,” usually inaugurated by a horse and cattle fair. By 1850, Chester began holding livestock fairs more frequently, and by 1892, 13 livestock fairs were held annually. In the 1880s, there was a separate monthly horse fair, held on Thursdays near the entrance to the Union Hall in Foregate Street.
Woollett’s Chester Horse Fair was likely painted circa 1880 and depicts the last of Chester’s traditional fairs. The painting depicts the junction of Love and Foregate Streets, which had become a major center for shopkeepers during the 19th century. In 1884, the horse fair was moved to George Street, but the monthly horse fairs in Chester remained largely unchanged until the 1930s.
The present work is related to Woollett’s 1887 painting Chester Horse Fair, Foregate Street, currently in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester.
- Creator:Henry Charles Woollett (1826 - 1890)
- Dimensions:Height: 38 in (96.52 cm)Width: 60 in (152.4 cm)Depth: 4 in (10.16 cm)
- More Editions Sizes:38 x 60Price: $15,000
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Lexington, KY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2873216480682
Henry Charles Woollett
Henry Charles Woollett was born in 1826 in Brighton, Sussex. At some point, he visited the Cheltenham area, where he met Martha Pilley (B. 1843), the daughter of a tailor. They married in 1866 and lived in Cheltenham before settling in Liverpool after the birth of their first child. The family lived at 54 Herschell Street, Everton. Woollett specialized in landscape rustic scenes often featuring figures, horses and farm animals. He seems to have spent his spare time travelling around painting views of the surrounding towns and villages. The horses he painted were often working animals and he also produced several works featuring horse markets such as those that took place in Chester. Examples of his work can be found at the Williamson Art Gallery and the Grosvenor Museum.
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