Cuthbert Collingwood, Baron Collingwood

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed in pencil on stretcher: Mr Colnaghi Jnr. Cockspur Street from F. Howard by auction. J. W. Collingwood.

This portraitback to top

The NPG portrait and a slightly earlier whole-length in the National Maritime Museum both stem from a three-quarter-length painted in Sicily in 1807 by Giuseppe Politi of Syracuse and now in a private collection in Cumbria. This is inscribed: Giuseppe Politi Ciracusano dipinge le 18 Xbre 1807 (letters in NPG archive) and was probably painted in Syracuse when Collingwood in the Ocean was cruising nearby in October to December 1807. It was sent home shortly afterwards and became the subject of a letter from Collingwood to his wife 28 July 1808:

I am sorry to find my picture was not an agreeable surprise: I did not say anything to you about it, because I would always guard you as much as I could against disappointment; but you see, with all my care, I sometimes fail. The painter was reckoned the most eminent in Sicily; but you expected to find me a smooth-skinned, clear-complexioned gentleman, such as I was when I left home, dressed in the newest taste, and like the fine people who live gay lives ashore. Alas! it is far otherwise with me. The painter was thought to have flattered me much: that lump under my chin was but the loose skin from which the flesh has shrunk away; the redness of my face was not, I assure you the effect of wine, but of burning suns and boisterous winds; and my eyes, which were once dark and bright, are now faded and dim. The painter represented me as I am, not as I once was. It is time and toil that have worked the change. and not his want of skill. That the countenance is stern, will not be wondered at, when it is considered how many sad and anxious hours and how many heartaches I have. I shall be very glad when the war is over.
After Collingwood's death Charles Turner engraved a mezzotint of it, with slight variations, in 1811, '… from an original Painting in the possession of Lady Collingwood … '. A whole-length variant, with left hand on an anchor-fluke, by William Owen, is in the Laing Art Gallery, transferred from the Mansion House, Newcastle upon Tyne; several copies of this exist. Another whole-length variant with telescope and left hand to chin was painted by Henry Howard and presented to Greenwich Hospital by Collingwood's eldest daughter Sarah in 1828; a three-quarter-length copy of this (NPG 1496) was made at the same time by Henry Howard's son Frank, then aged 23, delivered in 1830 and remained in the family until sold to the NPG in 1908. A three-quarter-length Howard copy was lent to HMS Collingwood by Miss M. Collingwood Braddell in 1954.

Physical descriptionback to top

Three-quarter-length in rear-admiral's full-dress uniform leaning on the gunwhale of a poop, holding a telescope, hand to chin; 3 Naval Gold Medals on white ribbons with blue borders (large Trafalgar, small on left lapel First of June and St Vincent); behind him a pre-1801 red ensign; grey eyes, white hair.

Provenanceback to top

Lord Collingwood's daughter Sarah and by descent in the family to Cuthbert Collingwood Denny and his two sisters who sold it to the NPG in 1908.

Exhibitionsback to top

Royal Naval Exhibition Chelsea 1891 (7) and Exhibition of the Royal House of Guelph, New Gallery, 1891 (142), both lent by Cuthbert Collingwood Denny.

Reproductionsback to top

(of a version in the National Maritime Museum)
Small mezzotint by S. Cousins 1827; line and stipple by Holl 1832, 'Presented to Greenwich Hospital by his Family', a re-issue of a plate in Locker's Naval Commanders, 1832; stipple by Finden 1846.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

View all known portraits for Cuthbert Collingwood, Baron Collingwood