During the 20th century, Mr. and Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords Jr. collected sporting art, especially pieces that depicted their love of horses and racing. They had the largest privately held collection of works by one of America’s greatest equestrian artists, Edward Troye.
In 1921, Walter Jeffords purchased the entire collection of horse portraits Troye painted for his patron, Alexander Keene Richards. They were produced from 1855 to 1875. The collection serves as excellent documentation of the history of bloodstock in America in the 19th century and showcased Troye’s talent.
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Some of the paintings in the collection included American Eclipse, Glencoe, Massoud and Australian, the painting on this week’s cover. Massoud was on the Chronicle’s cover in 1951, while American Eclipse was featured in 1976.
These paintings are some of the many pieces of sporting art that Sotheby’s will auction from the Estate of Mr. and Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords on Oct. 28-29. The entire collection will be on public exhibition from Oct. 16-27, at Sotheby’s in New York City.
