Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, RA (British, 1802-1873)A Marlborough Spanielbears inscription 'Mr. Plumer-Ward's dog. I remember the doging to Foley Street to sit for my brother for this picture/Painted by Sir E. Landseer R.A.' (on the stretcher)oil and pencil on canvas54.5x 65.5cm(21 1/2x 25 3/4in).For further information on this lot please visit theArtist or Maker: Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, RA (British, 1802-1873)Provenance: ProvenanceWilliam Plumer (1736-1822); bequeathed upon his death to his wife, Jane Hamilton (died 1831); thence bequeathed to Mr Robert Plumer-Ward (1765-1846), second husband of Jane Hamilton.The Duke and Duchess of Montrose (likely bequeathed by the above); sale, Christie's, London, 4 May 1895, lot 68. Private collection, US; sale, , New York, 16 February 2012, lot 96.Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.Exhibited London, Royal Academy, 1819, no. 930, titled A dog of the Marlborough breed, the property of Mr Plumer of Gilston Park, Herts.Literature A. Graves, Catalogue of the works of the late Sir Edwin Landseer, RA, London, 1875, p.6.The distinct colouring of the dog in the present lot could be described as that of the Marlborough or Blenheim breed. This breed is thought to have been developed by the first Duke of Marlborough when he introduced red and white Spaniels to the UK. For examples of the breed see Neville Lyntton's Toy Dogs and their ancestors (1911).At the time the present lot was painted, circa 1819, Gilston Park was the residence of a Mr William Plumer (1736-1822). Plumer was a man of immense wealth and political influence and in 1781 the English Chronicle described him as 'one of the most opulent country gentlemen in the kingdom...[his] estates in Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk, make up a clear ie of fifteen thousand pounds per annum'. With such wealth at his disposal Plumer was able to embark on a vibrant political career, representing Lewes in 1763, Hertfordshire to 1807 and finally Higham Ferres until his death in 1822. In 1820, near the end of his career, Charles Lamb described him as 'The fine(st) old Whig still living'.While Plumer's political vibrancy is well documented, his personal life was far from happy, most notably during his long marriage to his cousin Jane Hamilton. Jane was thirty years his junior and through determined effort she gradually took over the administration of her elderly husband's estate, eventually forcing him into a solitary life at Gilston. Sopletely was the MP dominated by his wife that on his death in 1822, aged 86, he left all his lands, tenements, hereditaments, 'and all household goods and furniture, wines, books, pictures, plate, linen and china, all horses and carriages . . . and all the live and dead stock in Husbandry' to his widow. This would undoubtedly have included the present lot, which, it seems, was painted by the young Landseer in the last years of Plumers life as a celebration of his favour