Sir Edward Paget

This portraitback to top

Home was appointed Court Painter to the Nawab of Oudh in 1814 and lived in Lucknow for the next thirteen years. Paget was in India 1823-5 and was given the miniature portrait of Ghazi-ud-din, by then King of Oudh, on his arrival: 'I dined with the King yesterday … he placed his portrait, set in a double row of diamonds and suspended by a double row of pearls round my neck, and begged I would wear it amongst my other decorations ...' (letter to his wife 2 November 1823; the diamonds and pearls were sold by the East India Company, Letters & memorials of General the Hon. Sir Edward Paget, GCB, 1898, pp 158-9); this may have been by Home himself who though not generally a miniaturist is known to have owned a 'fine Miniature cabinet' (letter from Mrs Day in NPG archive). Home's miniature of Paget is probably a copy of a full-sized portrait in the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta (Home Bequest), commissioned by the King 'as the greatest favour I could confer upon him, that I would this day sit for my picture to Mr Holmes [sic], his portrait-painter … I proceeded immediately to his painter, to whom I sat for a couple of hours and he promises to make a good picture, but of this I doubt' (letter to his wife 4 November 1823). Home's miniature copy remained in his family until acquired by the NPG in 1945.

Physical descriptionback to top

Half-length in uniform as C.-in-C., Ribbon and Star of GCB, Star of Portuguese Tower & Sword, Army Gold Medal (Corunna), Turkish Gold Medal of Crescent, lavishly jewelled miniature portrait of the King of Oudh; sparse light brown hair, brown eyes, pale complexion.

Provenanceback to top

The artist's family and sold to the NPG by a descendant Mrs Ella B. Day 1945.


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.

View all known portraits for Robert Home

View all known portraits for Sir Edward Paget