Details

Object type

painting; portrait

Title

Lt Col Sir Charles Stuart, 1753-1801

Artist/Maker

George Romney artist

Culture/School

English

Place Associated

Britain, London (place made)

Date

1779

Materials

oil on canvas

Dimensions

unframed: 1270 mm x 1016 mm

Description

Sir Charles Stuart was born in January 1753, the fourth son of the 3rd Earl of Bute and Mary, the only daughter of Edward Wortley Montagu. He married Louisa, second daughter and co-heir of Lord Vere Bertie. They had two sons, the oldest, Charles, becoming Baron Stuart de Rothesay.

Charles Stuart entered the army in 1768 as an ensign in the 37th Foot, and in 1777, aged only 24, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the 26th Foot, or Cameronians, with which he served during the American War. In 1780 he was returned as MP for Bossiney in Cornwall. In 1782 he was promoted to Colonel and in 1793 to Major-General and went on to serve with distinction in Corsica, Portugal, Minorca and Malta. In 1798 he was made Lieutenant-General and in 1799 was awarded the Order of Bath and Governor of Minorca. He died at Richmond Lodge on 25 March 1801.

George Romney was one of the most fashionable and prolific portrait painters of his day. He is best remembered for his series of paintings of Emma Hart (later Lady Hamilton, wife of Sir William Hamilton and lover of Nelson) impersonating mythological characters. This dashing portrait of Charles Stuart in military uniform holding a brass-hilted officer’s sword, is typical of Romney’s elegantly accomplished style. He wears an epaulette on his right shoulder to indicate his standing as an infantry officer. Romney’s appointment books survive which document Stuart’s sittings in February – May 1779, allowing us to date the portrait with accuracy. Waddesdon Manor holds the companion portrait of his wife Louisa Stuart. The painting was engraved by J. Grozer (published in 1794) and Samuel William Reynolds (published in 1803). In these printed versions Stuart’s uniform is updated to take account of the sitter’s promotion to Major-General.

This painting was acquired by the Hamilton Bequest in 1941 through the art dealer Agnew. It came from the collection of the late Leonard Gow (1859-1936), a Glasgow shipowner, philanthropist and collector of European paintings and Chinese art, who had hung it in his country house Camis Eskan in Cardross, near Glasgow. Gow’s collection went up for sale at Christie, Manson & Woods on 28 May 1937 (Catalogue of Important ancient and modern pictures and drawings of the British & continental schools the property of Leonard Gow D.L., Ll.D. Deceased; Camis Eskan, Dunbartonshire).

Credit Line/Donor

Purchased by the Trustees of the Hamilton Bequest, 1941

ID Number

2240

Location

In storage