Commodore Harrison, probably Thomas Harrison (1725-68)
Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (Plympton 1723 - London 1792)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1767
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
762 x 635 mm (30 x 25 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Saltram, Devon
NT 872144
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Commodore Harrison, probably Thomas Harrison (1725-68) by Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (Plympton 1723 - London 1792), 1767. A head-and-shoulders oval portrait of a man in naval uniform and neckcloth, his body facing with head turned to proper right, against a dark background. Identified by Algernon Graves and William Vine Cronin as 'John Harrison, Esq. late Commodore of His Majesty's squadron in the Mediterranean', whose death was reported in the Gentleman's Magazine (vol. 38, p. 94) under 'John Harrison'. This appears to have been a misprint, as no records of a Commodore John Harrison exist (Graves and Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A., London 1899-1901, vol. 2, p. 444). The sitter is believed to be Commodore Thomas Harrison who commanded the 'Venus', 36 guns, at the Battle of Quiberon Bay, November 1759, and who was subsequently appointed commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean in 1763. See National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG D14295 and National Maritime Museum, London, PAD2831.
Provenance
Accepted by the Treasury in part payment of death-duties from the executors of Edmund Robert Parker, 4th Earl of Morley (1877-1951) and transferred to the Trust in 1957.
Credit line
Saltram, The Morley Collection (accepted in lieu of tax by HM Treasury, and transferred to The National Trust in 1957)
Makers and roles
Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (Plympton 1723 - London 1792), artist
References
Graves and Cronin 1899-1901 Algernon Graves and W.V.Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 4 vols, London 1899-1901, vol. II, p. 444.