Commodore John Watson (1735-1786)
manner of Tilly Kettle (1735 - Aleppo 1786)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1800 - 1829
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Springhill, County Londonderry
NT 216389
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Commodore John Watson (1735-1786), in the manner of Tilly Kettle (Exeter 1735 – Aleppo 1786), early 19th century. A three-quarter-length portrait, seated, head to right, wearing naval uniform, his right hand on his knee, his left on a table.
Provenance
According to Mina Lenox-Conyngham (see letter from Patricia Boulton, 9 Nov. 2000), the portrait by Romney of the sitter's son-in-law, General Nilson, was given to the Lenox-Conynghams by a Mr Wakefield who had married a daughter of the Rev. --- Hewitt, Rector of Moneymore or Derryloran(?); this portrait presumably accompanied it. The Manor House, Moneymore was where Sir William Lenox-Conyngham (1824-1906) lived when Agent to the Drapers' Company. The Wakefields had ties with the Watsons: Commodore Watson's daughter by his marriage to Frances Popham, Maria Anne (b.1772), married E---- Wakefield, who was born at Springfield; they had a son, John Watson Wakefield, who was perhaps the donor of these pictures; purchased by National Trust in 1957 from William Lowry Lenox-Conyngham (1903–1957), shortly before his death, along with the other contents of Springhill
Credit line
Springhill, The Lenox-Conyngham Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
manner of Tilly Kettle (1735 - Aleppo 1786), artist