The Macdonald Children
Sir Henry Raeburn, RA (Stockbridge 1756 – Edinburgh 1823)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1798 - 1800
Materials
Oil paint on canvas
Measurements
1431 x 1137 mm
Place of origin
Scotland
Order this imageCollection
Upton House, Warwickshire
NT 446695
Caption
In this painting by the eminent Scottish artist Sir Henry Raeburn (1756–1823), three boys – Reginald, Robert and Donald Macdonald – are playing cheerfully in a craggy Scottish landscape. It was probably commissioned by their parents and can be understood as both a record of familial love and a statement of dynastic legacy. By the time the portrait was completed, the boys had lost their father, and Reginald (far right), aged just five, had succeeded to the family title of Chief of Clanranald and 7th of Benbecula. The scene here marks a shift from earlier periods, when children from elite families were dressed as miniature adults. In this picture the children appear relaxed and are perhaps enacting a childish version of a Highland dance. They wear comfortable clothes known as ‘skeleton suits’, which were made of two halves that could be buttoned together, allowing for ease of movement.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Macdonald Children: Reginald George Macdonald later 19th Chief of Clanranald and 7th Chief of Benbecula (1788-1873) with his brothers Robert Macdonald (d.1864) and Donald Macdonald (d.1837) by Sir Henry Raeburn RA (Stockbridge 1756 – Edinburgh 1823), inscribed Sir Henry Raeburn RSA pinxt (left) and also inscribed: Ranald Macdonald of Clanranald and two younger brothers (right), circa 1798–1800. The eldest, Reginald George, sits on a rock with his brother Robert, each with an arm about the other's waist, in the act of snapping their fingers over their heads; the former dressed in scarlet with white collar and stockings, the latter wearing a lemon-coloured dress, wide blue sash and white collar; the youngest boy, Donald, stands by their side, wearing scarlet and caressing a dog.
Full description
The three boys in this portrait are the children of John Macdonald, 18th Chief of Clanranald (d.1793), and his wife, Katherine Macqueen. They are Reginald George (1788–1873), whose name sometimes appears as Ranald, and his younger brothers Robert (d.1863) and Donald (d.1837). Reginald and Robert sit on a rock while Donald looks up at his siblings, embracing, or perhaps restraining, a lively spaniel. Henry Raeburn (1756–1823) was the favoured portraitist of the Scottish aristocracy at the turn of the nineteenth century, so he would have been the natural choice to depict the children of this prominent Highland family. His studio was in Edinburgh. Portraits of children playing freely and happily were fashionable in Britain in this period and here Raeburn proves himself adept at meeting this demand. He adopts a loose vigour in his brushwork that imparts a sense of spontaneity to his depiction of the boys. They have been brightly dressed in soft, practical jacket-and-trouser combinations, known as ‘skeleton suits’. These allowed for unconstrained movement; the older brothers raise their arms above their heads and click their fingers. This gesture may be designed to evoke a Highland dance and by inference the culture of their homeland. Similarly, the wild setting of rocks, mountains and shaggy foliage may be a reminder of the Macdonald estates on the Small Isles, Arisaig, Moidart and South Uist. Reginald had already inherited these estates when this portrait was painted, following the death of his father in 1793.
Provenance
Presumably commissioned by the sitters’ family; Sir Cuthbert Quilter, 1st Bt, of Bawdsey Hall, Suffolk; F. E. Hills in 1895; bought at his sale his sale, at Christie’s, 2 July 1920, lot 39, by Davis Brothers on behalf of Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted; given to the National Trust by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted in 1948.
Credit line
Upton House, The Bearsted Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Right: Ranald Macdonald of Clanranald and two younger brothers Left: Sir Henry Raeburn, R. S. A., pinxt.
Makers and roles
Sir Henry Raeburn, RA (Stockbridge 1756 – Edinburgh 1823), artist
References
Armstrong 1901: Sir Walter Armstrong, Sir Henry Raeburn, with an introduction by R. A. M. Stevenson, and a biographical and descriptive catalogue by J. M. Caw, New York 1901, pp. 90, 91 & 107, and pl. XXVII. Pinnington 1904: Edward Pinnington, Sir Henry Raeburn, RA, London 1904, p. 278. Caw 1909: Sir James Lewis Caw, Masterpieces in Colour: Raeburn, London 1909, reproduced p. 73. Greig 1911: James Greig, Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. His Life and Works With a Catalogue of his Pictures, London 1911, pp. XXXIV & 51, reproduced p. XX. Rimbault Dibdin, E. Raeburn / 1925., p. 139. Pope-Hennessy 1939: John Pope-Hennessy, The Royal Academy Exhibition of Scottish Art, The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol.LXXIV, no.431, February 1939, pp. 66-68 and 71, p. 68. Raeburn bi-centenary exhibition, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Arts Council, 1956, pp. 23-4. Gore 1964: F. St John Gore, Upton House, The Bearsted Collection: Pictures National Trust, 1964, p.24, no. 63 & pl. Ib. Irwin 1975: David and Francina Irwin, Scottish Painters at Home and Abroad 1700-1900, London 1975, p. 159. Upton House, Warwickshire, [National Trust; Gervase Jackson-Stops], 1980, reprinted 1982, revised 1985, reprinted 1987 & 1988, p. 16. Mackie 1993: David Mackie, Raeburn: Life and Art, unpublished PhD thesis, Edinburgh University, 1993, pp. 605-7. Upton House, Warwickshire, 1996 [National Trust; Simon Murray], 1990, revised 1996, p. 32, illus. p. 31 (1990 edition); p. 32, illus. p. 32 (later editions). Upton House, Warwickshire, 2003: [National Trust; Oliver Garnett], 2003, p. 21, illus. p. 22.
