Samuel Howitt was an English painter, illustrator, and etcher, primarily of animals and scenes of hunting, horse-racing and landscape. He worked in both oils and watercolors. A member of an old Quaker family in Nottinghamshire, he lived as a youth in Chigwell, near Epping Forest, Essex, and was financially independent, devoting himself to field sports. However, like many men of his class, he ran into financial difficulties and had to seek a profession. Up until then he had pursued art as a talented amateur. Howitt went to London and was hired as a drawing master. He exhibited with the Incorporated Society of Artists and at the Royal Academy beginning in 1784. He was in such demand as an illustrator that he exhibited little in fine-art venues. Howitt painted in both oils and watercolors. His specialities comprised sporting subjects and illustrations of natural history, which he carried off with spirit and accuracy. His animal subjects were largely drawn from life. Howitt's sister married the great British draughtsman and caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), and his work became somewhat imitative of that of his brother-in-law. However, unlike Rowlandson, Howitt was an actual sportsman, and his sporting scenes aim at accuracy. Howitt became quite an accurate and successful etcher, and his etchings were widely sold. Howitt's work is represented in numerous museum collections.