Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. (Stockbridge 1756-1823 Edinburgh)

Portrait of George Thomson, half-length, in a black coat and a white shirt

Details

Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. (Stockbridge 1756-1823 Edinburgh)
Portrait of George Thomson, half-length, in a black coat and a white shirt
oil on canvas
30¼ x 25¼ in. (77 x 64 cm.)

Provenance

By descent from the sitter to
Mrs. Thomson-Sinclair; Sotheby's, London, 14 May 1912, lot 48.
Acquired from Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, on 24 June 1912, by Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, and by descent.

Literature

Sir W. Armstrong, Sir Henry Raeburn, London, 1901, p. 113.
E. Pinnington, Sir Henry Raeburn, London, 1904, p. 250.
J. Greig, Sir Henry Raeburn, London, 1911, p. 61.
Cowdray Park Catalogue, London, 1919, p. 11, no. 50.
C. Anson, Catalogue of the Pictures and Drawings in the Collection of The Viscount Cowdray, London, 1971, p. 16, no. 46, plate 60 (in the Dining Room).
D. Mackie, Complete Catalogue of the Artist's Work, unpublished PhD thesis, Edinburgh and Yale, 1994, VI vols., no. 705.
To be included in D. Mackie's forthcoming Complete Catalogue of Raeburn's Work, currently in preparation for publication by the Paul Mellon Centre, London.

Exhibited

Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh, Raeburn Exhibition, 1850, no. 13 (lent by the sitter).
Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, 1863, no. 1863 (lent by Miss Thomson).

Engraved

J. Cochrane, stipple, published by Blackie & Son, Glasgow.

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Lot Essay

Publisher and collector of music, the sitter counted Beethoven and Robert Burns among his circle, and was also employed by Scotland's major art body, the Board Trustees from 1780 until 1839, a position which must have given him many opportunities to meet Sir Henry Raeburn. Raeburn also painted the sitter's wife, Katherine Miller (1764-1841) (D. Mackie, op.cit., no.706, private collection). Their granddaughter became Mrs Charles Dickens. In his will the sitter instructed his sons to present this portrait and the companion of Mrs Thomson to the Royal Scottish Academy, 'as specimens of the talents of the admirable artist who honoured me with his friendship and delighted me with his society'. A codicil later cancelled this provision and the portrait remained with the family. There is a copy in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, attributed to W.S. Watson. Dating the portrait is not easy but it could be of as early as circa 1805, yet it has some similarities with Raeburn's Lord Francis Jeffrey (Mackie, op.cit., no. 432), engraved by Freeman, in 1812.

We are grateful to Dr. David Mackie, St. Catharine's College, University of Cambridge, for the above entry.

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