A Newfoundland in a Landscape with Sheep (date unknown)
(oil on canvas, 23.6 x 30.5 in.)
attributed to
John Scraggs
Scraggs (active 1828 - 1865) was a 19th Century British painter about whom little seems to be known. He may have been from the Norfolk area in east-central England, and may have been the son of the painter James Scraggs, also active in Norfolk.
This painting bears the following (partially illegible) inscription on its stretcher: "This large Newfoundland Dog aged 3½ years was bred by and is the property of Hugh Woods...Norfolk/he had this likeness taken to be...remembrance of his Dog..., for he was Docile without Fawning /Sagacious without deception and Grateful without affectation of...fear of punishment/should my fawning and Sychophantic slave see this, let him lead... /make amends to society for his obsequiousness and Servility by repentance and atonement/and let...tell us where Instinct ends and Reason begins/uses his name...but lamb like was he in his disposition, this is a true Epitaph and these are..../Scraggs/Artist/...Norfolk"