From his London base in Soho, Francis Sartorius recorded scenes from all aspects of the eighteenth century sporting and equestrian world. He established himself throughout England and enjoyed popularity from many patrons including the Dukes of Cumberland and Grafton, Lord Grosvenor, and Lord Rockingham. Regularly exhibiting from the London venues such as the Free Society of Artists and the Royal Academy, Sartorius became renowned for a slightly naive, old-fashioned style. He was a fashionable equestrian artist, painting more portraits of winners on turf than any other artist of the second half of the 18th century. Sartorius's prolific artistic career provides an invaluable documentation of English country life in the 1700s.

The portrait of the fighting cockerel, Dauntless, was commissioned by his owner George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont in 1777 in celebration of Dauntless's 38 victories. A prominent social figure and a patron of the arts, Wyndham was one the largest landowners in England during the 18th century. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Wyndham as an "enlightened and philanthropic landowner, an innovative farmer, an expert horticulturist and silviculturalist, an amateur scientist, and a breeder of livestock and racehorses." With his keen eye for art, Wyndham acquired an extensive collection, and was one of the first to appreciate J.M.W Turner (1775-1851), for whom he kept a studio at Petworth House in Sussex.