Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed, centre right: CHARLES EARL OF/EGREMONT/1762.

This portraitback to top

NPG 4589 appears to be an autograph version of the Hoare portrait at Petworth, [1] for which there is a finished chalk study in the British Museum (1894.04.17.10); it differs in the substitution of a blue chair for a green sofa, and the inclusion of a table bearing diplomatic papers witnessing Egremont’s prominent part in the negotiations of the peace with France after the Seven Years War.

Footnotesback to top

1) Illus. Apollo, CV, 1977, p 346; Petworth cat., 1920, p.55, no.538; engraved E. Harding 1799. Hoare’s bill to the 2nd Earl of Egremont (Petworth MSS), listing half lengths of the Earl and his Countess, a full length of their two children, and four fancy pictures, was paid on 27 September 1763 (E. Newby, William Hoare of Bath, exhibition catalogue, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, 1990, no.20a, p 41); the paintings of the Countess and children remain at Petworth.

Physical descriptionback to top

Blue grey eyes, powdered wig and black hair ribbon, wearing a red-brown suit, white stockings; blue-upholstered chair and a green curtain to the left; on the pink-marble-topped table lies a folded paper inscribed: To the/Earl of Egremont one of his Majesty’s/Principal Secretaries of State; from the blue dispatch box, which bears the Royal crest and the number 12, projects a sheet inscribed: Preliminary Articles/of Peace Sign’d at/Fontainebleau ye 3rd/of Novr 1762.

Provenanceback to top

Anon. sale, Christie’s, 20 October 1967, lot 18, bought Leggatt for the NPG.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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.

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