Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue

William Henry Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford (1717-1781), Statesman

Given Lord Rochford’s reputation for extravagance (DNB), his portraiture is remarkably mean. The portraits now at Brodick Castle, formerly a Hamilton house, were removed from Easton Park in 1919, having descended through Lord Rochford’s brother, who married 1751 the widow of the 5th Duke of Hamilton.

1739
Painting attributed to Thomas Bardwell, three-quarter length standing in peer’s robes. Brodick Castle (E. Miles, Wal. Soc., LIII, 1987, p 183, 186n13, fig.191y). Previously attributed to Charles Jervas.

1741
Painting by Thomas Bardwell, standing by a dappled horse in the grounds of Easton Park, Suffolk. Brodick Castle (M. Kirby Talley, 'Thomas Bardwell', Wal. Soc., XLVI, 1978, no.89). For Easton Park, inherited by Rochford from an uncle in 1741, see J. Harris, Artist and the Country House, 1979, p 319. Bardwell was particularly favoured by Lord Rochford, to whom he dedicated his Treatise on Painting, 1756.

c.1743
Painting attributed to Thomas Bardwell, half length. Heeze Castle, North Brabant, Netherlands, descended through the Nassau van Zuylesteyn family (M. Kirby Talley, 'Thomas Bardwell', Wal. Soc., XLVI, 1978, no.90). The features compare closely with those in the Bardwell portrait of 1741.

c.1745-49
Miniature by C. F. Zincke, see NPG 5796.

c.1750-55
Painting by Domenico Duprá, half length. Engraved R. Houston (illus. Connoisseur Year Book, 1958, p 85). Presumably painted in Turin where Duprá was Court Painter and Rochford the British envoy 1749-55.

c.1768
Pastel by J-B. Perronneau, half-length oval, wearing blue suit. Sotheby’s, 11 July 2001, lot 210. Engraved V. Green 1770; a crude derivative plate by J. Lodge 1771 (London Museum). Presumably drawn while Lord Rochford was in Paris 1766-68; the composition compares closely with Perronneau’s pastel of Abraham van Robais dated 1769 (Louvre).

1770
Painting by P-E. Falconet, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1770 (45).

c.1778
Unattributed watercolour, oval half-length profile, in the uniform of Colonel of the West Essex regiment with Garter sash. Private collection, by family descent.



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.