Live Auction 2146219th Century American Art
HERBERT HASELTINE (1877-1962)
Lot 332 Property from a Private Collection, Laguna Niguel, California

HERBERT HASELTINE (1877-1962)

The Chaser: Sergeant Murphy

Closed19 January 2023

Estimate

USD 10,000–15,000

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HERBERT HASELTINE (1877-1962)
The Chaser: Sergeant Murphy
inscribed 'Herbert Haseltine/1959' (on the base)—inscribed 'SERGEANT MURPHY 1910.CHESTNUT GELDING.SIRE GENERAL/SYMONS.DAM ROSE GRAFT BY ASCETIC BY ROSE STOCK BY/PRESTON PANS BY ROSELEAF BY FRIGHT.BRED IN IRELAND/WINNER OF GRAND NATIONAL 1923.' (along the base)
bronze with brown patina
10 in. (25.4 cm.) high on a 11/4 in. (3.2 cm.) high marble base
Modeled in 1925; cast in 1959.

Private collection, United Kingdom.
Christie's, New York, 3 December 1997, lot 61, sold by the above.
Thomas J. Carroll, Middleburg, Virginia, acquired from the above.
Estate of the above.
Christie's, New York, 28 September 2010, lot 68, sold by the above.
Red Fox Fine Art, Middleburg, Virginia, acquired from the above.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2016.

Specialist note

Modeled after the Chestnut Gelding horse named Sergeant Murphy, Herbert Haseltine produced the present sculpture as part of his famed British Champion Animals series. Bred in Ireland in 1910, Sergeant Murphy was originally intended as a hunting horse but instead competed in seven Grand National races in his lifetime. He won in 1923 at the surprising age of 13, a win that also marked the first Grand National championship for an American jockey. The horse's remarkable story was adapted in the 1938 Hollywood film Sergeant Murphy starring Ronald Reagan.

Other casts of The Chaser: Sergeant Murphy are in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.