Abel Hold (British fl. 1849-1871) Young donkey Oil on paper laid down to canvas Indistinctly inscribed lower right; signed and inscribed with artist's address verso 127 x 102cm (50 x 40 in.) Provenance: Private Collection, Edward Newman, Barnsley This painting was commissioned by Edward Newman, a solicitor working in Barnsley. He was leaving his office one day when he saw a donkey and its foal being led to market. He thought the foal was so appealing that he bought it on the spot and commissioned a painting of it from Abel Hold. Shortly afterwards he visited Hold's studio and saw the painting as it is now. He prepared to take it away, but Hold said he had not yet painted a background and foreground. Newman insisted that he liked the painting as it was and, in protest, Hold refused to sign it and wrote sketch in the bottom right hand corner. The painting was exhibit 1489 in the National Exhibition of works of art at Leeds in 1868 where it appeared under Hold's name and under the title Sketch of a young Donkey (see official catalogue, Leeds: Edward Baines, 1868, p.86). The painting is said to have been shown at other exhibitions as well.