The Deer Stealer
painting by James Ward
The Deer Stealer is an oil painting on canvas by the English artist James Ward, from 1823. It is held at the Tate Britain, in London.
History and description
Combining landscape and genre painting, it depicts a poacher in a forest scene, accompanied by a white horse and a dead deer that he had just shot. The painting implies a strong criticism of illegal hunting. It was commissioned for five hundred guineas but the owner, Theophilus Levett, was so delighted with the final work that he instead paid him six hundred, the highest Ward ever received for a private commission.
It was exhibited at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1823 at Somerset House. Today it is in the collection of Tate Britain, having been acquired in 1950.
An 1820 pencil study for the poacher, depicting him in great detail, which was effectively lost in the final version due to its large scale, is in the Yale Center for British Art, in New Haven.
References
Bibliography
Beckett, Oliver. The Life and Work of James Ward, R.A., 1769-1859: The Forgotten Genius.
“The Deer Stealer” enters the record as painting by James Ward. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Deer, Stealer and painting can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“The Deer Stealer” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Deer, Stealer and painting provides the most credible route into that argument.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28533040. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1823, 1950, 1820 and 1769.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Deer Stealer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.