The Four Eldest Children of Sir Richard Croft, 6th Bt (1762–1818)
John James Halls (Colchester 1776 - Hampstead 1853)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1803
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Croft Castle, Herefordshire
NT 537593
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Four Eldest Children of Sir Richard Croft, 6th Bt by John James Halls (Colchester 1776 - Hampstead 1853), circa 1803. Four figures of children, from left to right: Archer (1801 - 1865), Frances (1800 - 1877), Thomas (1798- 1835) and at the back with book, Herbert (1793 -1803) resting on a bank. The eldest boy, Herbert Croft, (10 February 1793 – 25 August 1803), who wears a dark jacket with a book, died at Eton on 25 August 1803. The portrait is possibly painted posthumously. It is believed that his face was copied from another picture and an unknown person posed for his body; the second son Thomas Elmsley Croft later 7th Bt (1798-1835) in the red coat blowing soap bubbles from clay pipeand holding a delicate china cup, lost a leg at Waterloo; the young girl is Frances Elizabeth Croft (1800-1877) later married Baron Louis-Adolphe-Marie de Chanteau in Lille in 1822; the baby is Archer Denman Croft (1801-1865) later 8th Bt, stretching towards the bubble.
Provenance
From the estate of James Croft (d. 1941); bought back from Frost & Reed in 1957 by Michael, Lord Croft, his sister the Hon. Diana Croft, Mrs Fred Uhlman and Stella Bouwer, Mrs Owen Croft, who left her share of the picture to Lord Croft in 1973; loaned to The National Trust circa 1960; accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax from the estate of Michael Henry Glendower Page Croft and allocated to The National Trust for display at Croft Castle in 2004.
Credit line
Croft Castle, The Croft Collection
Makers and roles
John James Halls (Colchester 1776 - Hampstead 1853), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Sir William Beechey (Burford 1753 - Hampstead 1839), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Sir Martin Archer Shee (Dublin 1769 - Brighton 1850), artist