Portrait of Sir Alexander Munro (b.1763/4), half-length

The sitter came from a Scottish Episcopalian family of some standing at Glasgow, merchants in the Virginia trade, who were bankrupted by the American War of Independence (1775-83). Presumably the sitter was the Alexander Munro born in Scotland in 1763/4, who on 3 May 1780 aged eighteen was appointed Cadet in the Honourable East India Company's Service and in whose List he appears. He sailed for India, in the Mount Stewart, 27 June 1780 but was captured by the combined French and Spanish fleets. He sailed again, in the Hinchinbrooke, on 13 March 1781; and after various promotions, resigned on 25 October 1793.

There was a strong emphasis within the Munro family on education and the impressive career of the sitter's brother, Sir Thomas, in the military and civil governance of the Subcontinent was founded on his command of Indian languages. Sir Thomas was also painted by Raeburn (Christie's, London, 25 November 1942, lot 53) and that portrait is of comparable size and format to this (Mackie, nos. 558 and 557).

Dating Raeburn is fraught with problems; however, the apparent age of the sitter might suggest that the portrait dates from approximately 1800 - 1810. We are grateful to Prof. David Mackie for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs (private communication, 13 November 2009) and preparing the catalogue note. It is to be included in his forthcoming publication Complete Catalogue of Raeburn.