A wonderful genre painting by Charles Hunt of two men and two boys with horses and other animals in a cottage. A farmer and his two sons can be seen eating lunch at a table in rustic interior as a visitor approaches. Perhaps encouraged by the boys, a piglet seems to have found its way onto the table whilst a rabbit and guinea pig eat cabbage leaves on the floor. To the far right, a horse is shown in a stable area along with some piglets. To the far left, a terrier waits on the step by its master.

Charles Hunt was a genre and figure painter born in Kensington, London in 1829. His sons Reuben Hunt (1858-1938), Walter Hunt (1861-1941), Claude Hunt (1863-1949) and Edgar Hunt (1876-1955) all became artists. His nephew Harry Brooker was also an artist. He taught all of his sons to paint and most likely his nephew, as their styles and subject matter are similar.

He married Ann Sarah Kilbee on 19 May, 1857 and they lived at Pomona Place in Fulham. The couple had 8 children in total. He began exhibiting at the British Institution from 1858 and at the Royal Academy from 1862. By 1871 he was living at Barclay Road, Fulham before moving to 6 Granville Road in Wandsworth.

Hunt painted highly detailed, humorous scenes often of families within cottage interiors, mainly in oils. His paintings often contain donkeys and other domestic animals such as dogs, illustrating his in-depth knowledge of their anatomy and draughtsmanship as well as his affection for them. He died in Wandsworth in March, 1900, aged 70 and was buried at Brompton Cemetery in on 22 March, 1900.

© Benton Fine Art