Early Georgian Portraits Catalogue: Walker

Thomas Walker (1698-1744)

Actor and dramatist; first appeared at Drury Lane in December 1715, and thereafter in many roles on the London stage; made his reputation as the original Captain Macheath in 'The Beggar's Opera', 29 January 1728; wrote a few indifferent plays; died on tour in Dublin.

2202 Called Thomas Walker, by an unknown artist
Oil on canvas, 25 x 19 ½ in. (635 x 495 mm); dark brown eyes, faint eyebrows, broad lips, the lower protruding slightly, short brown wig; black tricorne hat, edged with gold lace, plain grey coat and brown waistcoat, white shirt; dark brown background; lit from the left.

Formerly on the back of the portrait is a manuscript label now in the picture dossier: Walker, the Comedian, as Capt. McHeath / in the 'Beggars Opera', painted by Hogarth / and presented to Walker, on the occasion / of his last benefit.

Walker's last benefit was probably at Goodman's Fields in 1742—illness prevented an appearance in Dublin four days before his death on 5 June 1744. [1] The sitter's apparent age would not be impossible, if perhaps a little young, for this date, Walker being in his 44th year in 1742.

Apart from the lack of eyebrows, the face, if a little leaner and sharper, can be reconciled with authentic portraits, but NPG 2202 is not a known type, and its history is not known before 1928. It has been ascribed to Hogarth, because of the superficial resemblance of dress and pose to the figure of Macheath in the ‘Beggar's Opera', and doubtless this has coloured the identification. Hogarth sometimes painted with a 'coarse, bold stroke', but compared with pictures like ‘The Fairies Dancing on the Green by Moonlight', [2] NPG 2202 is incompetent rather than free. It might just prove to be a late work by the amateur painter Marcellus Laroon the younger, but too few life-size portraits from his hand are known to permit an attribution. No portrait of Walker is listed in Dr Raines' recent monograph.

Condition:discoloured varnish; pin holes in the corners; the paint is now very thin to the left of the wig, otherwise sound.

Collections:given 1928 by Walter Horace, 2nd Viscount Bearsted; purchased by Spinks earlier in the year from P. Morley Horder of 5 Arlington Street, SW1.

Literature:R. Raines, Marcellus Laroon,1966; R. Paulson, Hogarth: His Life, Art and Times,1971.

Appearance

Walker is described as having a good face, figure and presence. [3]

Iconography

The only individual portrait was John Ellys's painting of Walker as Macheath, 1728, engraved by Faber. He painted a companion portrait of Lavinia Fenton (later Duchess of Leeds) as Polly Peachum, also engraved by Faber. Both are now known only by the engravings. Walker is the central figure in Hogarth's 'Beggar's Opera', of which as many as six versions were painted 1728-c.1731. The detail [Editor’s note, 2014: not reproduced here] is from the highly finished replica, still incomplete early in 1731, painted for Sir Archibald Grant, and now in the Tate Gallery. The versions are discussed in detail by Paulson who draws attention to elements of caricature and iconography. [4] The portrait content nevertheless remains high.

Notes

1. DNB, XX, pp.542-43.
2. L. Gowing, 'Hogarth', exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, 1971, pp.5I-53 (126).
3. DNB, loc. cit.
4. Paulson, Hogarth: His Life, etc, I, pp.180-93, pls 61-64; Gowing, sup. cit., nos 44-47.