According to James L. Young, MFH of the Orange County Hunt, a “scurry” was a common artistic conceit popular in England during the 17th and 18th centuries, before the advent of photography. The art form was a composite portrait of the riders, horses, and hounds—all identifiable and named—in a particular hunting field or club.
The Orange County “Scurry” is notable for several of the personage represented. Legendary Huntsman Melvin Poe is seen with hounds in the middle distance. In the foreground, sporting top hat and shadbelly tails, is Bruce Sundlun, former governor of Rhode Island and, at the time of the painting, owner of Salamander Farm. Also represented (to name but a few) are Ambassador Charles Whitehouse, Senator John Warner, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Not only was artist Jean Bowman a supporter of the Museum, she designed the distinctive Museum pin.
