AFTER SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
Lot 617

AFTER SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS

PORTRAIT OF CHARLES JAMES FOX (1749-1806), THREE-QUARTER LENGTH, IN A BLUE COAT WITH YELLOW WAISTCOAT, HIS RIGHT HAND RESTING ON MANUSCRIPTS, A COLUMN AND RED CURTAIN BEHIND

Price Realised

GBP 540

More Information

How to sell

AFTER SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
PORTRAIT OF CHARLES JAMES FOX (1749-1806), THREE-QUARTER LENGTH, IN A BLUE COAT WITH YELLOW WAISTCOAT, HIS RIGHT HAND RESTING ON MANUSCRIPTS, A COLUMN AND RED CURTAIN BEHIND
oil on canvas
50 x 40 in. (127 x 101.6 cm.)
in an early 19th Century English composition frame

Specialist note

After the picture at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, seat of the Earls of Leicester (D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds: Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, London, 2000, I, p.202, no.674, II, p.525, fig.1380).

Charles James Fox (1749-1806) was a prominent Whig politician who held several cabinet positions and was Britain's first Foreign Secretary. He was noted for his anti-slavery campaigns, the French Revolution and American independence, where the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts was named in his honour.

Fox was a son of 1st Baron Holland and Lady Caroline Lennox, daughter of Charles Lennox 2nd. Duke of Richmond. His early life was characterised by extravagance and by 1774 he had amassed debts of £140,000. He was also an early leader of fashion and after his Grand Tour of Europe brought back to London the extravagant male fashions of the French Court known as the Macaroni style, constituted of frilly lace, brocade, cosmetics and red heels.