MASTER AND MAN (PORTRAIT OF MR. SWYNNERTON).

Images: www.bonhams.com, www.liveauctioneers.com.

  • Title(s): Master and Man (Portrait of Mr. Swynnerton) (this web site; 1923 exhibition); Master and Man (The Art Journal, 1908, p174); Man’s Best Friend (Don Presley, 2011); A Man’s Best Friend (Bearne’s, Jul 2006); A portrait of a gentleman and his dog (Bonham’s, Oct 2006).
  • Description: A man with a bushy moustache, seated, facing viewer’s right, wearing a green house coat and holding up a dachshund on his lap, inside a painted oval.
  • Media: oil on canvas (multiple sources).
  • Dimensions: canvas 90.5 x 60.5 (average), frame 106.7 x 81.3 cm; “90 x 65cm” (Bearne’s, 2006); “91 x 66cm (35 13/16 x 26in).,unframed” (Bonham’s, 2006); 42 x 32 inches “with frame” (Don Presley, 2011).
  • Signature/date/other text: “A….. L Swynnerton / 190..” bottom right (obscure, date could be 5 or 8).
  • History:
    • 1908 (1905?) – “signed and dated 1908 bottom right” (Bearn’s, 2006); “Signed and dated ‘1905’” (Bonham’s, 2006); 1908 suspected to be the correct date as no other pre-1908 mention.
    • 1908 – Exhibited The New Gallery Summer Exhibition; photograph in The Art Journal, 1908, p174.
    • 1923 Jul – Exhibited Manchester Art Gallery – Paintings by Mrs Swynnerton, no. 40, “Painted at Rome”.
    • 2006 Jul 4 – Auctioned Bearne’s, Exeter, lot 375, “A man’s best friend signed and dated 1908 bottom right oil on canvas 90 x 65cm”, passed.
    • 2006 Oct 10 – Auctioned Bonhams, London, lot 207, “A portrait of a gentleman and his dog. / Signed and dated ‘1905’, oil on canvas / 91 x 66cm (35 13/16 x 26in).,unframed … The artist’s name should read Annie L Swynnerton (British 1844-1933) and not as it appears in the catalogue [Anne L Synnerton]/ Illustrated on page 30 of the catalog”, sold: [hammer c. £472.50,] premium £720.
    • 2011 Nov 5 – Auctioned Don Presley Auctions, Orange, CA, USA, lot 117, “Titled “Man’s Best Friend”. Well listed artist. Measures 42″ x 32″ with frame”, passed.
  • Location: ?

From The Illustrated London News, 2 May 1908: ‘Mrs Swynnerton’s “Master and Man” does more than give an excellent likeness of a dachshund and a gentleman – is a terse and forcible essay in paint.’

Also titled “Man’s Best Friend/A Man’s Best Friend” and “A portrait of a gentleman and his dog” at different times. Identified as Master and Man (Portrait of Mr. Swynnerton) from a photograph of 1923 exhibition in which the painting is just identifiable, although very blurred, and the title confirmed from the exhibition catalogue.

Page last updated 27 Apr 2025.