Edward John Littleton, 1st Baron Hatherton

Inscriptionback to top

Signed and dated (bottom right): George Hayter 1834.
Inscribed in ink on a label on the back, in the artist's hand: John Hatherton Littleton Esq^re M.P./for Staffordshire South/Study for my great picture of The/House of Commons of 1833./George Hayter, 1834

This portraitback to top

This is a study for Hayter's 'House of Commons' group (see NPG 54). Its early history is unknown; unlike many of the studies for this picture it does not appear to have been in the Hayter Sale of April 1871. It is also more finished than most other known studies, and was evidently completed as an independent portrait; the upper part of the figure and the features are, however, identical in the study and the finished group.

Physical descriptionback to top

Healthy complexion, brown eyes and hair. Dressed in a white stock, white shirt, and dark grey coat with a velvet collar, holding a quill pen. Seated in a green and brown high-backed armchair, writing at a table with a yellowish-beige cloth, an inkstand with a stick of red sealing wax, various letters and documents and a red despatch box, inscribed 'W. R.' for William IV. Background colour various shades of grey.

Provenanceback to top

Purchased at Coe & Sons, 29 January 1969 (lot 990).


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Ormond, Early Victorian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1973, 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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