First Previous 54 OF 4088 NextLast

Robert Clive

54 of 4088 portraits matching these criteria:

- subject matching 'Pets and animals'

Robert Clive, by Nathaniel Dance (later Sir Nathaniel Holland, Bt), circa 1773 or after -NPG 39 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Early Georgian Portraits Catalogue

Robert Clive

studio of Nathaniel Dance (later Sir Nathaniel Holland, Bt)
circa 1773 or after
50 1/4 in. x 40 1/4 in. (1276 mm x 1022 mm)
NPG 39

This portraitback to top

NPG 39 is perhaps a studio production, rather than an early copy, of a popular portrait by Dance. The prototype is presumably the portrait (J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 1957-62, 48) [1] at Powis Castle where there is another closely related signed whole length (J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 1957-62, 47) with the sitter resting his left hand on a stick, a hat in his right hand and a peaceful river scene in place of the battle in NPG 39. The landscape backgrounds have not been identified and are probably mere studio conventions. The battle may represent Plassey, Clive's most famous victory. Both paintings presumably descended through the sitter's son Edward, 2nd Baron Clive, created 1st Earl of Powis (3rd creation) in 1804. The Gallery's version lacks the incisiveness of the three-quarter length at Powis (48) and is weaker and more powdery in colour than such good examples of Dance's portraits as Lancelot 'Capability' Brown (NPG 1490) and Arthur Murphy, the actor and author (NPG 10). A three-quarter length of the sitter's wife (J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 1957-62, 50) given to Dance, might prove to be a pendant to the whole length (J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 1957-62, 47) but the attribution has been questioned and the portrait could be by West. A date c.1774 has been suggested on hair style.
All versions of the Dance show the sitter with the order of the Bath to which he was nominated 24 April 1764 and installed 1772; the date of the portrait is not, however, known. Dance was expected back from Italy in the spring of 1764, [2] and Clive left London for India again in the autumn of that year, returning finally in 1767. The dress shown is probably major general's uniform. The buff waistcoat, however, is not known to have been introduced before c.1780. If white is intended, this colour was introduced in 1772. Lacings in the form of chevrons were introduced in 1802 [3] although, as in other cases, it seems likely this order merely confirmed existing practice. A similar uniform, with nearly straight lacings and without the epaulette, appears in Zoffany's portrait, 1771, of George III at Windsor (Sir Oliver Millar, The Later Georgian Pictures in the collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1969, 1195).
There are replicas or copies of the type in the India Office, in Lord Plymouth's collection, and at Sutton Court, presumably painted for Lord O'Hagan's ancestor, Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Bart (1737-1810), secretary to Clive from 1764. Others are in the Oriental Club, given by Lord Powis, in the Indian Institute, Oxford, [4] and at Walcot. A posthumous miniature (J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 1957-62, 104) by John Smart, signed with initials and dated 1778, is based on Dance's face mask. An identical miniature at Sotheby's, 1 June 1970, lot 86, from the collection of Lord Southborough, is signed and dated 1776, and a miniature by Smart, of Lady Clive in 1770, was lent by Lord Powis to the 'British Portrait Miniatures' exhibition, Edinburgh, 1965 (222).

Footnotesback to top

1) J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 1957-62, I, p 266 ff.
2) Letters David Garrick, ed. D. M. Little and G. M. Kahrl, 1963, I, p 401, quoting Garrick to his brother, 2 January 1764.
3) Information from Major N. P. Dawnay, 1961.
4) R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the Possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, 1912-25, I, p 240 (731).

Physical descriptionback to top

Heavy grey eyebrows, dark eyes, pursed lips, rather pale complexion with grey shadow on his right cheek and left temple, light grey wig, or powdered hair; white stock and wrist ruffles, scarlet jacket with black (or dark blue) frogging and gold lace, the buttons arranged in pairs, a single epaulette on his right shoulder and four rows of lace, chevron-shaped, on the cuffs; the star of the Bath, half visible, with scarlet ribbon over light buff waistcoat; plain black hat held in his left hand; in the background a battle scene, red jackets firing cannon, left, and Indian troops galloping, right; brown sky with smoke rising; lit from the left.

Conservationback to top

Pin holes in corners; retouching evident in the craquelure of the face and on his right shoulder; cleaned, varnished, lined and restored, 1858 and 1895-6; cleaned 1970.

Provenanceback to top

Bought, 1858 (as by Reynolds), from John Jones, acting on behalf of the owner Thomas James Blair who stated, in a letter dated 30 April 1858; ‘... the picture was taken by Lord Clive to India on his last visit ... and being injured by the voyage, another picture was painted by Sir Joshua. This picture fell into the hands of a Miss Clive who married a Dr Grey, a Surgeon in the HEI Co's Service, and on his death passed into the hands of the present owner'.

Reproductionsback to top

A stipple engraving by F. Bartolozzi of the battle type, dated 1788, with the wig covering the ear and a bigger bow, follows J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 1957-62 (48) rather than NPG 39.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Kerslake, Early Georgian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1977, 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 Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive

View all known portraits for Nathaniel Dance (later Sir Nathaniel Holland, Bt)