Nine Angry Bulls

attributed to John Funnell (1813-87)

about 1870

Oil on Canvas

64.6 x 90 cm

The multi-talented John Funnell of Newick, near Lewes in East Sussex, was a self-taught painter, photographer, land surveyor and schoolmaster. He particularly enjoyed painting views of his local South Downs landscape. Here adults, children, a man on a horse and a dog race from a herd of charging bulls – a scene which Funnell may well have seen at first-hand on his travels. As James Ayres has noted, Funnell’s aim here was ‘to provide a fluid and entertaining narrative’, and has certainly succeeded.