Bay Middleton with Robinson Up

John Frederick Herring Junior was baptised together with Sarah Herring on 22^nd May 1821 at St. George’s, Doncaster.  There is some confusion as to when John Junior was born because the parish records are damaged but his sister, who may have been a twin, was born on 15^th June 1820.  His death certificate of March 1907 gives his age as ninety-one so it is probably impossible to resolve the issue.  However it is of some importance as it must affect some attributions.

John Junior may have worked with his father but it is suggested that there was a major disagreement; chiefly over John Junior working in similar style and subject matter to his father and signing with the same signature.  John Junior was known to contemporaries as Fred.  He married an artist, Kate Rolfe, who exhibited a picture at the Royal Academy and one at the Royal Society of British Artists (Suffolk Street).  They lived in later life at Fulbourn near Cambridge. John Junior died in Cambridgeshire in 1907.

John Junior worked in oil and watercolour.  His oils are of greater interest because they have often been confused with those of his father’s.  However, despite the similarity of subject matter, there is considerable difference in technique. John Junior’s work was far more finicky and lacked the strength; it was very good but not in comparison with the outstanding work of his father.  His horses do not have the boldness, shine and power of his father’s. 

Source: The Dictionary of British Equestrian Artists by Sally Mitchell (1985), published by the Antique Collectors’ Club.