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Lot Essay
The present pastel is one of the finest examples of the artist’s work on this scale. Dateable to circa 1790 it was executed when the artist was at the height of his powers and is a virtuoso portrait of a confident young gentleman in the prime of youth, engaged on his Grand Tour. His fashionable and stylish dress contrast vividly with the gnarled tree he leans against, waiting somewhat impatiently it seems for the horses' traces to be repaired in an Italian landscape complete with a romantic ruin.
Hamilton was the most distinguished pastellist to come out of the Dublin Society Schools. He moved to London and established a very successful portrait practice, charging the significant sum of nine guineas for a small oval portrait head. In 1782 Hamilton followed his sitters to Italy, initially lodging in Rome, but travelling on to Florence and Venice before returning to Florence and then Rome again. Before his journey to Rome very few full-length pastels by Hamilton are known. Influenced by the pictures of other Grand Tour artists such as Pompeo Batoni, who he encountered as part of the artistic milieu he mixed with, Hamilton aggrandised his pastels to encompass the full-length portrait. In this format the full scope of Hamilton’s skill can be seen: his masterly grasp of fabric and his skilful interpretation of mood.
The sitter has traditionally been catalogued as Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire (1753-1801), although some doubt has been thrown on this identification. There is no evidence that Hill was in Rome at the date this drawing appears to have been made, and the reference in Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, New Haven and London, 1997, p. 498 to Mr Hill in Rome in 1790 seems likely to have been based on the erroneous identification of the present pastel. Desmond Fitzgerald and Anne Crookshank in their article, loc.cit., fig. 10 were also more circumspect on the sitter referring to the pastel as a 'Portrait of a member of the Hill family, Marquess of Downshire’. Hamilton did execute two small oval portraits of Hill's parents, the 1st Marquess and his wife, which were sold Christie's, London, 8 July 1910, lot 22 (65 gns to Wertheimer). These are currently untraced, but are known from an engraving of the Earl. It may have been the resemblance of the 1st Marquess to the sitter in this pastel that prompted a mis-identification when the full-length pastel first appeared on the market.
This pastel previously belonged to James Thursby-Pelham (1869-1947), who formed his collection at the height of the 'Duveen' fashion for portraits of aristocratic subjects before and after the First World War. Thursby-Pelham was an acknowledged expert on early English furniture, and his house at 55 Cadogan Gardens was filled with treasures. It then entered the collection of Dr Tony Ryan at Lyons Demesne, who amassed one of Ireland’s finest and most valuable private collections of art and was sold in these Rooms, 14 July 2011. It holds the world record for a work by the artist at auction.
We are grateful to Neil Jeffares for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.
Hamilton was the most distinguished pastellist to come out of the Dublin Society Schools. He moved to London and established a very successful portrait practice, charging the significant sum of nine guineas for a small oval portrait head. In 1782 Hamilton followed his sitters to Italy, initially lodging in Rome, but travelling on to Florence and Venice before returning to Florence and then Rome again. Before his journey to Rome very few full-length pastels by Hamilton are known. Influenced by the pictures of other Grand Tour artists such as Pompeo Batoni, who he encountered as part of the artistic milieu he mixed with, Hamilton aggrandised his pastels to encompass the full-length portrait. In this format the full scope of Hamilton’s skill can be seen: his masterly grasp of fabric and his skilful interpretation of mood.
The sitter has traditionally been catalogued as Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire (1753-1801), although some doubt has been thrown on this identification. There is no evidence that Hill was in Rome at the date this drawing appears to have been made, and the reference in Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, New Haven and London, 1997, p. 498 to Mr Hill in Rome in 1790 seems likely to have been based on the erroneous identification of the present pastel. Desmond Fitzgerald and Anne Crookshank in their article, loc.cit., fig. 10 were also more circumspect on the sitter referring to the pastel as a 'Portrait of a member of the Hill family, Marquess of Downshire’. Hamilton did execute two small oval portraits of Hill's parents, the 1st Marquess and his wife, which were sold Christie's, London, 8 July 1910, lot 22 (65 gns to Wertheimer). These are currently untraced, but are known from an engraving of the Earl. It may have been the resemblance of the 1st Marquess to the sitter in this pastel that prompted a mis-identification when the full-length pastel first appeared on the market.
This pastel previously belonged to James Thursby-Pelham (1869-1947), who formed his collection at the height of the 'Duveen' fashion for portraits of aristocratic subjects before and after the First World War. Thursby-Pelham was an acknowledged expert on early English furniture, and his house at 55 Cadogan Gardens was filled with treasures. It then entered the collection of Dr Tony Ryan at Lyons Demesne, who amassed one of Ireland’s finest and most valuable private collections of art and was sold in these Rooms, 14 July 2011. It holds the world record for a work by the artist at auction.
We are grateful to Neil Jeffares for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.