Samuel Spode

Samuel Spode (1798–1872) was a British painter best known for his equestrian sporting scenes, specialising in the portraiture of sporting and military horses.

Biography Spem Gregis, in full parade tack in his stable, painted by Samuel Spode. Little is known about Samuel Spode's life. There are few sources and the information is sparse. Samuel Spode was born 21 April 1798. He was the grandson of Josiah Spode.

Marriage and emigration On 6 February 1821, Samuel Spode married Mary Crewe. It was the time, when the British Government encouraged adventurers to emigrate to the penal colony of Van Diemen's Land. And only a few weeks after their marriage, Samuel Spode and his wife, as well as his brother Josiah and his wife Maria Middlemore Garner, took their chance and tried their luck in Van Diemen's Land. While his brother and his wife remained in Van Diemen's Land, Samuel Spode and his family returned to England in 1826. When they returned to England, they stayed with his sister Sarah and her husband, the potter Charles James Mason (1791–1856), at their house Heron Cottage in the Staffordshire Potteries.

Samuel Spode's passion – painter of famous horses Copenhagen, the Duke of Wellington's war horse, as painted in his retirement by Samuel Spode. Even though Samuel Spode was able to make a living for a while with his legal training, he preferred to devote his time to painting. Painting was his passion, particularly animal painting, with a focus on horses.

Sometimes his patrons liked to be included in the paintings too, like John Dawson Duckett of Duckett's Grove and the Earl of Lonsdale. In 1825, two of Samuel Spode's paintings were reproduced and published in The Sporting Magazine.

In 1865, despite still being married to his fourth English wife, he claimed to be a bachelor and married an Irish girl named Delia in Dublin.

Samuel Spode died in Dublin on 31 March 1872, leaving several children by several wives. Despite obviously still being married to the Irish girl, who was granted administration of his meagre estate, his death was registered by a Teresa Spode. Her connection to Samuel Spode has never been defined.

Legacy Samuel Spode worked solely on commissions. Therefore, he never exhibited at any of the well-known exhibitions. As a result, he has been relatively unknown and unrecognised. However, his legacy is impressive, both in the number of paintings and the famous horses he depicted.