Sir Henry ‘Harry’ Harpur, 6th Bt (1739-1789)
Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
1784
Materials
Pastel on paper
Measurements
292 x 241 mm (11 ½ x 9 ½ in)
Place of origin
Devizes
Order this imageCollection
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
NT 290232
Summary
Pastel on paper, Sir Henry ‘Harry’ Harpur, 6th Bt (1739-1789), by Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830), 1784. Inscribed on back:Sir Harry Harpur Bt. Take by Sir Thomas Lawrence in the year 1784. A half-length portrait, facing right. He wears a white wig and red coat with black collar and lapels. An inscription on the back reads; 'Sir Henry Harpur Bt. Together with a portrait of Sir Harry's son executed by Thomas Lawrence, aged fifteen, at an hotel in Devizes.
Provenance
According to Isabel Jane Crewe (1830-1909) “when Lady H used to stop there [the Bear Inn, Devizes] on her way to Bath, she used to promise him [Lawrence] an orange or a B….. (?) if he would draw something for her. We have several pencil drawings of about this date done by him.”; acquired with Calke Abbey's contents, with the aid of a grant provided by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, thanks to a special allocation of money from the Government and transferred in lieu of tax on the estate of Charles Jenney Harpur-Crewe (1917 - 1981) to the National Trust with the house that was given by Henry Jenney Harpur-Crewe (1921- 1991), in 1984
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: Sir Henry Harpur Bt. Taken by Sir Thomas Lawrence in the year 1784. (inscription on the back)
Makers and roles
Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830), artist