King William IV (1765–1837) as the Duke of Clarence
Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1790 - 1795
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1257 x 1003 mm (49 1/2 x 39 1/2 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Upton House, Warwickshire
NT 446684
Caption
The Duke of Clarence was the third son of George IV, who succeeded to the throne as William IV in 1830. The original version of this portrait is probably that at Penshurst, in the possession of the Viscount de L’Isle & Dudley, a senior descendant of the Fitzclarences, the product of William IV’s liaison with Mrs Jordan when Duke of Clarence. There is also a replica at another National Trust property, Fenton House. It has been suggested that this autograph version, typical of Lawrence’s early work, was painted for Lady Burdett.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, William IV (1765-1837) as the Duke of Clarence by Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA, (Bristol 1769 – London 1830), 1790-1795. A three-quarter-length portrait, of the third son of George III, standing, facing, head turned to right, in blue coat, white waistcoat and stock, grey breeches and powdered hair; he wears the Star of the Garter, which he received in 1782, and holds a hat in his right hand and a stick in his gloved left; cliffs and seascape background and setting sun. It is an authentic replica of the portrait in the collection of Lord De L'Isle and Dudley at Penshurst, which was possibly the picture exhibited at the Academy in 1793 (63) and the British Institution 1846 (4). Another version is at Fenton House, London (NT 1449345), bequeathed by Major Tom Goff from The Courts, Holt.
Provenance
First noted in the collection of Baroness Burdett-Coutts (d. 1881), daughter and co-heir of Sir Francis Burdett, Bt, of Ramsbury; in the sale of her husband, William Burdett-Coutts (1851-1921), Christie's, 4 May 1922, lot 42, repd.: bought. by Davis; possibly acquired by Lord Bearsted in 1937 although not stated in either 1950 catalogue or the Whitechapel 1955 catalogue. Davis regularly bought for the 1st Lord Bearsted, whose type of picture, rather than the 2nd Lord's, this is; given with Upton House to the National Trust by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882 – 1948) shortly before his death in 1948
Credit line
Upton House, The Bearsted Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA (Bristol 1769 – London 1830), artist
References
Garlick 1954 Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence, London, 1954, p. 32 Garlick 1962-64 Kenneth Garlick, A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings and Pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Walpole Society, Vol. xxxix, 1962-64 Garlick 1989 Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence. A complete catalogue of the oil paintings, Oxford, 1989, p. 283 - under 823 (a)