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Lot Essay
Painted at Dublin in 1782 and one of only a handful of equestrian portraits executed by Wheatley, this Equestrian Portrait of Sir Henry Pigot has been described by the art historian, William Roberts, as 'quite the finest of these small full-length pictures'. The Equestrian portrait of Sir Henry Pigot displays all the qualities of the best work that Wheatley executed in Ireland: a glamorous military subject, an informal animated likeness and a beautifully balanced composition.
Wheatley, the son of a master tailor, was born at London in 1747. By the end of the 1770s, he had built up a successful portrait practice in London. However, he was forced to flee the city by a combination of persistent creditors and an irate husband, whose wife the dashing young artist 'had the folly to engage in an intrigue'. Borrowing a sum (which he never repaid) from the American artist Benjamin West, Wheatley secretly eloped with his mistress to Ireland.
Arriving at Dublin, a city then undergoing a cultural enlightenment, he found rich potential sources of patronage. On Britain's declaration of war with France, there were not enough troops in Ireland to guard against possible invasion and so local militia units, known as Volunteers, were raised throughout the country. Wheatley executed a number of works depicting the Volunteers and other military units on parade at Dublin. One of these, a group portrait, Review of Troops in Phoenix Park by General Sir John Irwin (National Portrait Gallery, London), painted in 1781, depicts the General with his staff receiving a dispatch. Although none of the other sitters had, up until now, been identified, the mounted officer at the rear of the group closely resembles, the sitter of the present portrait, Sir Henry Pigot.
A distinguished soldier from a military family, Henry Pigot was the son of Admiral Hugh Pigot (?1721-1792) and the nephew of George, 1st Baron Pigot (1719-1777) of Patshull, county Dublin, the controversial Governor of Madras. Henry Pigot was commissioned as a cornet in the 1st Dragoons in 1769. At the time that this portrait was painted, Pigot had risen to the rank of Major of the 8th or the King's Royal Irish Regiment of Light Dragoons and was serving in Ireland. In the following year, 1783, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and was subsequently promoted again to Major-General in 1795. He served in Holland in 1793-4, was at Gibraltar from 1796 to 1798, and went to Minorca in 1800. He commanded the blockade of Valetta, Malta in 1800 when the island surrendered to the British. In December 1836 he was transferred from the colonelcy of the 82nd to that of the 38th Regiment, with which another uncle, Sir Robert Pigot, had been long connected. He was made G.C.M.G in 1837 and died at London on 7 June 1840.
Wheatley, the son of a master tailor, was born at London in 1747. By the end of the 1770s, he had built up a successful portrait practice in London. However, he was forced to flee the city by a combination of persistent creditors and an irate husband, whose wife the dashing young artist 'had the folly to engage in an intrigue'. Borrowing a sum (which he never repaid) from the American artist Benjamin West, Wheatley secretly eloped with his mistress to Ireland.
Arriving at Dublin, a city then undergoing a cultural enlightenment, he found rich potential sources of patronage. On Britain's declaration of war with France, there were not enough troops in Ireland to guard against possible invasion and so local militia units, known as Volunteers, were raised throughout the country. Wheatley executed a number of works depicting the Volunteers and other military units on parade at Dublin. One of these, a group portrait, Review of Troops in Phoenix Park by General Sir John Irwin (National Portrait Gallery, London), painted in 1781, depicts the General with his staff receiving a dispatch. Although none of the other sitters had, up until now, been identified, the mounted officer at the rear of the group closely resembles, the sitter of the present portrait, Sir Henry Pigot.
A distinguished soldier from a military family, Henry Pigot was the son of Admiral Hugh Pigot (?1721-1792) and the nephew of George, 1st Baron Pigot (1719-1777) of Patshull, county Dublin, the controversial Governor of Madras. Henry Pigot was commissioned as a cornet in the 1st Dragoons in 1769. At the time that this portrait was painted, Pigot had risen to the rank of Major of the 8th or the King's Royal Irish Regiment of Light Dragoons and was serving in Ireland. In the following year, 1783, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and was subsequently promoted again to Major-General in 1795. He served in Holland in 1793-4, was at Gibraltar from 1796 to 1798, and went to Minorca in 1800. He commanded the blockade of Valetta, Malta in 1800 when the island surrendered to the British. In December 1836 he was transferred from the colonelcy of the 82nd to that of the 38th Regiment, with which another uncle, Sir Robert Pigot, had been long connected. He was made G.C.M.G in 1837 and died at London on 7 June 1840.