John Rose (1619–1677), the Royal Gardener, presenting a Pineapple to King Charles II (1630–1685) (after Henry Danckerts)
Thomas Stewart (1766 – c.1801)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
Oct 1787
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
927 x 1092 mm (36 ½ x 43 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139824
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, John Rose (1619–1677), the Royal Gardener, presenting a Pineapple to King Charles II (1630–1685) by Thomas Stewart (1766 – c.1801) (after Henry Danckerts), 1787. A full-length King Charles II standing right, turned slightly to left, facing, wearing the Star of the Garter, standing on a terrace while a gentleman (John Rose), left, presents him on bended knee with a pineapple. In the background is a formal garden and a large house. Two spaniels stand to left and right of the King. Thomas Stewart was born 19 October 1766, and would have been 20 years of age during the first part of October 1787. He entered the RA Schools in 1782, and exhibited portraits and history paintings at the RA between 1791–1801.
Provenance
Listed in the 1821-34 Catalogue of Paintings, Prints and Drawings at Ham House. Passed by descent to Sir Lyonel, 4th Baronet (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Baronet (1886 – 1969); by whom it was sold in 1948 to the Victoria & Albert Museum, purchased with financial support from HM Government. Ownership was transferred to the National Trust in 2002 for display at Ham House from Victoria & Albert Museum.
Credit line
Ham House, The Dysart Collection (purchased by HM Government in 1948 and transferred to the National Trust in 2002)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: Inscribed in ink on label, examined February 1998 by Maria Flemington, Collections Manager, Ham House: Charles 2nd and Rose his gardiner presenting to him the first Ananas raised in England copied by Thomas Stewart, aged 20 in October 1787, from the original by Dankers in the Collection of Mr Walpole at Strawberry Hill
Makers and roles
Thomas Stewart (1766 – c.1801), artist after Dutch School, artist
Exhibition history
Unearthed: The Power of Gardening, British Library, London, 2025 Untold Lives: A Palace At Work, Kensington Palace, London, 2024
