Meet Tempest, a light bay thoroughbred rendered with the sort of quiet conviction only a 19th-century sporting painter could muster. In this 1872 watercolor, signed in the lower left by S. Taylor, the horse stands in his stall as though aware of his own myth in the making. The air is warm with sunlight and anticipation; his coat catches the light in russet flashes, the way a good secret glints before it’s told.

The mahogany frame, period, handsome, and unapologetically solid, gives the piece a gentleman-racer gravitas, as though it once hung in the study of someone who knew the thrill of backing the right horse.

This is the kind of painting you don’t simply hang; you enlist it. A fragment of the sporting life, yes, but also a portrait of discipline and elegant animal tension. Tempest brings with him the romance of the paddock, the hush before the break, and the promise of a clean, decisive run.

17.75 in. W x 1.25 in. D x 14.5 in. H