George Morland

Inscriptionback to top

Signed in pencil lower right: G. Morland.

This portraitback to top

The head relates to that in a drawing of Morland seated at a rustic table outside the Bell Inn smoking a clay churchwarden and accompanied by a dog and pig, known from a soft-ground etching by Vivares 'From an Original Drawing in the possession of John Graham Esq. published by Edward Orme 1805' (reproduced F. W. Blagdon, Authentic Memoirs, 1806, plate 1); a variant with horse instead of pig was engraved by Gaugain 1804. The pedigree of the NPG picture was given by the donor: 'Mr Elias Childe a well-known artist and a member of the Suffolk Street Gallery, was a pupil of George Morland late in the 18th century and at the end of his tuition Mr Morland presented his own portrait executed by himself in crayons to Mr Childe. On the decease of Mr Elias Childe the picture became the property of his brother Mr Langdon Childe, a Professor of Optics and a dissolving view artist; this gentleman was my master and kindly presented it to me in 1867' (letter from W. R. Hill 27 January 1899, in NPG archive and repeated on a paper stuck to back-board).

Provenanceback to top

Given by the artist to a pupil, Elias Childe, whose brother Langdon Childe gave it to his pupil W. R. Hill in 1867; bought from W. R. Hill 1899.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, 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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