John Herbert
- Overview
- Extended catalogue entry
Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
John Herbert
by Arthur William Devis
1791
29 in. x 24 in. (737 mm x 610 mm)
NPG 547
Inscriptionback to top
Inscribed, upper right: Governor Herbert/AGED 68/1791; inscribed verso: John Herbert Esq.re Father of Mrs. B. W. Page/1painted by Davis at Calcutta.
1 Eliza Herbert (d. 1834) married 1) Philip Manington (Superintendent of Penang 1794-96), 2) 1796 Adml. B. W. Page (c.1765-1845) whose portrait by Robert Hannah belongs to the Ipswich Corporation.
This portraitback to top
The inscriptions on the portrait (incorporating the title of ‘Governor’ and the display of the Pembroke arms) suggest both Herbert’s pretence and the fraudulence which led to his dismissal at Balambangan.
Physical descriptionback to top
Brown eyes and white hair, wearing a black suit and waistcoat with a white lace neckcloth; arms of Herbert of Pembroke and Montgomery upper left.1
1 Per pale, az. and gu. three lions ramp. ar. crest wyvern vert holding a sinister hand couped at wrist gu.
Provenanceback to top
Presented by the sitter’s son-in-law, Admiral B. W. Page (d. 1845), to the British Museum, whence transferred to the NPG 1879.
Exhibitionsback to top
National Gallery, 1899; India Office, 1927-45.1
1 NPG 547 appeared in the NPG cats. of 1898 and 1946, but not in the intervening editions 1900-1932.
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.