The Hon. Thomas Needham (d. 1773)
Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1768
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2286 x 1524 mm (90 x 60 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Ascott Estate, Buckinghamshire
NT 1535158
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Hon. Thomas Needham (d. 1773) by Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788), 1768. A full-length portrait, facing, head slightly left, wearing uniform of the 3rd Footguards, eldest son of 'Jack', 10th Viscount Kilmorey whom Gainsborough also painted in 1768 (Tate Britain) at the time of his succession. An unusual feature of this portrait is that the sitter's hands are not revealed.
Provenance
By descent in family to 4th Earl of Kilmorey (1883 – 1961); with Agnew 1928; Anthony de Rothschild (1887- 1961) by whom given to the National Trust with the house in 1949
Credit line
Ascott, The Anthony de Rothschild Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Thomas Gainsborough RA (Sudbury 1727 - London 1788), artist
References
Fulcher, 1856: George Williams Fulcher, Life of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A., London, 1856, 2nd, revised edition, also 1856, p. 184 Armstrong 1898 Sir Walter Armstrong, Gainsborough and his Place in English Art, London, 1898, pp. 116, 200 Whitley 1915 William T. Whitley, Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1915, p. 59 Brockwell 1923, M. W. Brockwell, Gazette des Beaux Arts, LXV, 1923, pp. 61, repd. 62 Waterhouse 1958 Ellis K. Waterhouse, Gainsborough, London 1958, no. 514, pl. 104