James Pollard
James Pollard was a British painter specializing in coach, hunting and racing scenes. He was born in 1792, the son of painter, Robert Pollard (1755–1838), in Islington, London. He was strongly encouraged to become a painter of horses and began his art career by copying works of Ben Marshall as well as learning the trade of draughtsman and engraver at his father’s firm. In 1821, Pollard received his first commission to paint an inn’s sign with a coach and horses on it, which brought him a good deal of local fame. He began exhibiting at the Royal Academy that same year and continued through 1839, exhibiting also at the British Institution and at the Suffolk Street Galleries.
Pollard’s focus was mostly on coach scenes until it began to grow out of favor with the introduction of the train and bus systems. He then began focusing on hunting, racing and angling scenes. He corroborated with John Frederick Herring Senior (1795 -1865) on racing pictures in which Pollard would paint the crowd and background with Herring painting the horses. James Pollard was accredited with being an integral part in the pictorial history of stage coaches well past his death in 1867.