Colonel The Hon. John Russell (1620-1681)
John Michael Wright (bap. London 1617 - London 1694)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1659 (bears inscription)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1289 x 1079 mm (50 3/4 x 42 1/4 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139947
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Colonel The Hon. John Russell (1620-1681) by John Michael Wright (London 1617 - London 1694), inscribed in gold, lower left, over original signature, in black:Io MRitus / P.1659 [the M and R and joined]. A three-quarter-length portrait, of a man, turned slightly to the right, head turned slightly to the left, gazing at the spectator, his left hand on his hip his right hand resting on a drum. He has long light brown hair (wig?) and wears a buff coloured leather coat, with a scarlet sash hung from his right shoulder, he wears a white lace cravat and bears a sword. A tent (?) is shown on the left in front of some trees and there is a distant horizon on the right with stormy clouds. Colonel John Russell was one of Charles 1st's officers in the Civil War. After the Restoration he was the first Colonel of the First Foot, now the Grenadier Guards.
Provenance
Acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002
Credit line
Ham House, The Dysart Collection (purchased by HM Government in 1948 and transferred to the National Trust in 2002)
Makers and roles
John Michael Wright (bap. London 1617 - London 1694), artist
