86 ANIMAL PAINTERS 



by the fashion of the time. Patrons of the turf 

 and other wealthy sportsmen were eager purchasers 

 of pictures which appealed to their sporting tastes, 

 and there was a rage for possession of portraits of 

 celebrated race-horses and hunters. As an indica- 

 tion of the demand for good horse pictures, it is 

 worth noticing that when George Stubbs was re- 

 ceiving a hundred guineas for the portrait of a 

 famous horse. Sir Joshua Reynolds could only 

 obtain fifty guineas for a lady's portrait painted on 

 a canvas of equal size. 



In spite of his undoubted ability Benjamin 

 Marshall seems to have made little progress 

 towards recognition until the year 1795, when he 

 met John Scott, the famous engraver, then a young 

 man of twenty-one, but already rising into notice, 

 and at the beginning of his long connection with 

 the Sporting Magazine. Common love of sport 

 and art formed a bond between the two, and ac- 

 quaintance soon ripened into intimacy. It is more 

 than probable that Scott was instrumental in bring- 

 ing the talents of his friend under the notice of 

 Mr. Wheble, for in volume vii. of the Sporting 

 Magazine for 1796 we find the first engraving from 

 a painting by Marshall. This plate is engraved 

 by John Scott from a portrait of Mr. Taplin, author 

 of a work on Farriery. With the exception of 

 three etchings from portrait sketches, Scott's name 



