George Watson was one of colonial Victoria’s most recognisable sporting figures – a man whose name was, for half a century, synonymous with the Melbourne Hounds. As Master of the Melbourne Hunt Club (1853–1868, 1871–1906), he shaped the early racing and hunting culture of the colony as few others did.
Josephine Muntz Adams painted this portrait shortly after Watson’s death, and it was formally presented in December 1907 at Menzies’ Hotel – a fitting venue for a man of his social standing – to his son, Godfrey.
Muntz Adams rendered Watson as his contemporaries would have known him – self-assured, direct, at ease in his world. He is depicted in hunting dress: seated, composed, one hand resting on a riding crop. The Australasian praised the work as “a very good one indeed”1, noting its life-size scale and the faithfulness of its likeness.
Through her measured realism and sensitive handling of character, Josephine preserves something of the era itself – the rituals, the camaraderie and the confident rhythms of Victorian sporting life.
We are yet to trace the whereabouts of the original portrait. This image is reproduced from Heather B. Ronald’s 1970 history of the Melbourne Hunt Club, Hounds are Running, where it appeared in black and white. If you know where the portrait is today, we would love to hear from you.
