The Honourable Edward Clive, later 1st Earl of Powis III (1754-1839) as a Boy
Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1762 - 1763
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys
NT 1181069
Caption
This portrait of Edward Clive, the eldest son of Robert, ‘Clive of India’, depicts him as a young boy, aged nine or ten. In 1784, he married Lady Henrietta Herbert. In 1798 he was appointed Governor of Madras. On his return to Britain in 1804, he received the thanks of Parliament for his services during the 4th Mysore War of 1799, and the 2nd Mahratta War of 1802-4. This painting, by Thomas Gainsborough, is thought to date from the early 1760s, when the artist was working in Bath and producing portraits for a wide variety of new clients.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Honourable Edward Clive, later 1st Earl of Powis III (1754-1839) as a Boy, Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788), c. 1762/63. A full-length portrait of the eldest son of Robert, 1st Lord Clive of Plassey, aged about ten, wearing a blue suit, holding his hat in his left hand. He succeeded as second Lord Clive of Plassey in 1774 and was elevated to Lord Clive of Walcot in 1794 and Earl of Powis (3rd creation) in 1804.
Provenance
Accepted by HM Treasury on 21st March, 1963 in lieu of tax and conveyed to National Trust ownership in 1992. Recorded at Walcot Hall in Montgomery Collections Vol VI P.148 in 1873.
Makers and roles
Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788), artist previously catalogued as circle of Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788), artist
References
Catalogue of Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French, and English Masters (exh cat) British Institution, London, 1866, no.128 The Works of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A., with Historical Notes (exh cat) (Frederic George Stephens) Grosvenor Gallery, London, Winter and Spring, 1885, no.50 Chu 2018 John Chu, House of Portraits: Powis Castle, Swindon, 2018, pp.26-7