Larger Image
Core Record |
||
| Title | Portrait of General Sir Henry Clinton | |
| Collection | American Museum in Britain, Bath | |
| Artist | Attributed to Soldi, Andrea (Italian painter, ca. 1703-1771, active in Great Britain) Previously attributed to Hoare, William (British painter, ca.1707-1792) Previously attributed to Stuart, Gilbert (American artist, 1755-1828) |
|
| Date Earliest | about 1762 | |
| Date Latest | about 1765 | |
| Description | General Sir Henry Clinton (1730-1795) commanded British forces in the American War of Independence, and in 1778 he became Commander-in-Chief in North America. This portrait dates to earlier in his career, and may have marked his promotion to colonel in 1762. The promotion followed a successful period of service in Germany, from which he returned wounded to London. The portrait may have been commissioned by Clinton's cousin Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, second Duke of Newcastle under Lyme, in whose interest Clinton would sit as an MP and who corresponded with him during the War of Independence. | |
| Current Accession Number | 1964.70.1 | |
| Subject | portrait (Clinton, General Sir Henry); military and war | |
| Measurements | 126 x 100 cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Given by Henry S. Williams 1964. | |
| Provenance | Possibly commissioned from the artist by Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, second Duke of Newcastle under Lyme and ninth Earl of Lincoln, 1762-94; by descent through the Dukes of Newcastle, 1794(?)-1937; Henry S. Williams, New York, after 1945. | |
| Principal Exhibitions | Exhibition of Portraits, London, 1867. | |
| Publications | McCallum, I., 'General Sir Henry Clinton: Portrait Presentation', America in Britain, 1964, pp. 8-10, ill. | |
| Notes | Letters from General Sir Henry Clinton written during the American War of Independence to the second Duke of Newcastle under Lyme can be found in the Newcastle (Clumber) Collection, University of Nottingham. A suggested attribution to Pompeo Batoni was excluded during research conducted in the mid-twentieth century, and an expert (unidentified) attributed the work to Andrea Soldi. Recorded by I. McCallum: 'label attached to the frame stating that it was lent, in 1867, for a portrait exhibition in London by the then Duke of Newcastle'. Recorded in a catalogue of the collection of the Dukes of Newcastle, 1923. Copied in 1909 for the Bunker Hill Memorial Building, Charlestown, Massachusetts. |
|
| Rights Owner | Produced courtesy of The American Museum in Britain (Bath, UK) | |
| Author | Dr Susan Steer | |