A Donkey Cart and Stage Coach at Olympia

With a coster and a woman seated inside, the donkey cart on the left, bearing the initials J. K., is shown entering the ring at Olympia. Leaving the ring on the right is a red stagecoach, without markings, drawn by four horses. The well-known coachman E. K. Fownes is on the box and a guard stands at back. Fownes was recognised as the best professional of his day from 1888 until the 1900s.
This painting belongs to the Museum's Fownes collection of coaching material which includes dress items of coachmen, coach horns and whips.
The self-taught artist James Lynwood Palmer (1867/8-1941) was a distinguished amateur coachman and collector who principally painted horses, coaches and equestrian portraits. This painting is a good example of vehicle portraiture.