The Allied Sovereigns at Petworth, 24 June, 1814
Thomas Phillips, RA (Dudley 1770 – London 1845)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1817 (monogrammed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1280 x 1470 mm
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 486228
Caption
George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) is shown being presented by George, Prince Regent to the Tsar, Alexander I of Russia, in the Marble Hall at Petworth. The King of Prussia, Frederick William III, faces him, and other eminent dignitaries, royalty and the artist himself stand around. The paintings of Fox and Pitt hanging either side of the door are not at Petworth, and were probably introduced for symbolic reasons by the artist (there are, however, marble busts of both of them). The visit of the Allied Sovereigns to England in June 1814 was supposed to celebrate the Peace of Paris. The Tsar and Field Marshal von Blücher were the heroes of the hour, but the former’s gauche behaviour, and his sister’s meddling in the marriage plans of Princess Charlotte, made the hosts’ patience wear rather thin before the visit had ended; whilst the Tsar was for his part dismayed by the Prince Regent’s drunken behaviour.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Allied Sovereigns to Petworth, 24 June, 1814 by Thomas Phillips, RA (Dudley 1770 – London 1845), signed and dated bottom left: T P (monogram) 1817. George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) is presented by George, Prince Regent to the Tsar, Alexander I of Russia, in the Marble Hall at Petworth. The King of Prussia, Frederick William III, faces him. The characters from left to right are as follows: Princess Wolkonsky (see from behind); Count Lieven (profile); General Ouvarov (profile); Lord Charles Bentinck; Prince Frederick William of Prussia (later Frederick William IV) - looking back; the King of Prussia; General S.H.Turner, behind the Duchess of Oldenburg; the Prince of Oldenburg, behind the Tsar; the Prince of Württemberg (later King Wilhelm I of Württemberg); the Prince Regent; Lord Egremont; behind him, the Earl of Yarmouth (later 3rd Marquess of Hertford); Colonel Henry Wyndham and Lady Burrell; Capt. Charles Wyndham (head in background); Sir Charles Burrell, Mary Wyndham and Caroline Wyndham; the Hon. Berkeley Craven (behind the two); the Rev. T. Sockett (head almost hidden); the Rev. Stanier Clarke; Colonel George Wyndham (later 1st Baron Leconfield); Thomas Phillips, the artist. The paintings of Fox and Pitt hanging either side of the door are not at Petworth, and were probably introduced for symbolic reasons by the artist (there are, however, marble busts of both of them).
Provenance
In the collection of the 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) by 1835. Thence by descent, until the death in 1952 of the 3rd Lord Leconfield, who had given Petworth to the National Trust in 1947, and whose nephew and heir, John Wyndham, 6th Lord Leconfield and 1st Lord Egremont (1920-72) arranged for the acceptance of the major portion of the collections at Petworth in lieu of death duties (the first ever such arrangement) in 1956 by H.M.Treasury.
Credit line
Petworth House, The Egremont Collection (acquired in lieu of tax by HM Treasury in 1956 and subsequently transferred to the National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
CTP (monogram) 1817 (signed and dated bottom left)
Makers and roles
Thomas Phillips, RA (Dudley 1770 – London 1845), artist