John Jackson, R.A. (1778-1831)

Portrait of William Cowper (1731-1800), seated half-length, in a red coat with fur collar and white cap, leaning on a table with papers

Details

John Jackson, R.A. (1778-1831)
Portrait of William Cowper (1731-1800), seated half-length, in a red coat with fur collar and white cap, leaning on a table with papers
oil on canvas
36½ x 28¼ in. (92.8 x 71.8 cm.)

Provenance

Painted for Peter, 5th Earl Cowper (1778-1869), Panshanger, and by descent to Lady Desborough; Christie's, 16 October 1953, lot 56 (95 gns. to Gordon).

Literature

M. L. Boyle, Biographical Catalogue of the Portraits at Panshanger the seat of the Earl of Cowper, K.G. , 1885, p. 229, as 'by Jackson after a chalk drawing from life'.
C. Hussey, 'Panshanger, Hertfordshire', Part 1, Country Life, January 1936, p. 42, pl. 14.
N. Russell, A Bibliography of William Cowper, Oxford, 1963, pp. 298-299.

Exhibited

South Kensington, National Portrait Exhibition, 1867, no. 87.

Lot Essay

William Cowper, the celebrated poet, was great nephew of William, 1st Earl Cowper, and thus a second cousin of George Nassau, 3rd Earl Cowper, who granted him a pension of £40 a year in 1786. The 3rd Earl's second son, the 5th Earl, was a patron of Jackson commissioning a number of copies and posthumous portraits of his brother, the 4th Earl, and of the poet, as Hugh Belsey has kindly pointed out. This posthumous portrait was based on a drawing by Romney.

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