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

Portrait of John Pitcairn, Provost of Dundee, half-length, in a brown waistcoat, jacket and a cravat

Details

Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. (Edinburgh 1756-1823)
Portrait of John Pitcairn, Provost of Dundee, half-length, in a brown waistcoat, jacket and a cravat
oil on canvas
35½ x 27 in. (90.3 x 68.7 cm.)

Provenance

By descent from the sitter to his great-grandson,
Ronald Andrew Pitcairn of Pitcullo; Christie's, London, 25 June 1904, lot 58 (200 gns. to Wallis).
Alexander Reid, Glasgow.
with Agnew's, London, where acquired by
A.R. Wilson Wood, 7 April 1909; Christie's, London, 26 June 1914, lot 78 (850 gns. to Agnew).
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 24 November 1972, lot 27 (320 gns.)
Private collection, Dublin, Ireland.

Literature

W. Armstrong, Sir Henry Raeburn, London, 1901, p. 110.
J. Greig, Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A., His life and work with a catalogue of his pictures, London, 1911, p. 55.
R. Asleson and S.M. Bennett, British Paintings at The Huntington, New Haven and London, 2001, p. 312, fig. 122.

Exhibited

Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, 1876, no. 256.

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Lot Essay

The pendant to the present portrait showing John Pitcairn's wife Jean, née Robertson, is in the Huntington Art Gallery, San Marino. Both works are datable to the 1790s. Pitcairn, who served as Provost of Dundee from 1782-84, a position his father-in-law also held from 1731-32, later sat to Raeburn for another portrait, dated to circa 1820, which is now in the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.

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