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Sir George Pocock

17 of 182 portraits by Thomas Hudson

Sir George Pocock, by Thomas Hudson, early 19th century, based on a work of circa 1761 -NPG 1787 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Early Georgian Portraits Catalogue

Sir George Pocock

after Thomas Hudson
early 19th century, based on a work of circa 1761
29 3/4 in. x 24 3/4 in. (756 mm x 629 mm)
NPG 1787

Inscriptionback to top

On the back of the relining canvas a label in ink, date uncertain, reads: Admiral/Sir George Pocock KGB; on the top stretcher bar is a printed ticket 126.

This portraitback to top

Although relined and probably older than its wedged stretcher, the portrait is evidently not from Hudson's own hand. The paint suggests it is more likely to be late 18th or early 19th century. A similar 30 x 25 at Sutton Court in the possession of Lord O'Hagan was presumably painted for his ancestor Sir Henry Strachey (1737-1810) (see Clive, NPG 39). Though the sitter’s name had been lost in that collection, and it is in a more recent frame, the canvas appears to be by Hudson himself. The first version, however, is likely to be the three-quarter length, which came to light in 1960. This is in the possession of Lt-Col. P. F. Thorne, the type presumably originating between 1761, when the sitter was awarded the Bath, and the date of McArdell's engraving (J. Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits, 1878-83, 145), the third state of which, 1762, alludes to the ... Reduction of the Havannah 1762. Lt-Col. Thorne's portrait, like the engraving, has a ship in the background, right. A similar head engraved by F. Aliamet was published in the British Magazine, 1762.

Physical descriptionback to top

Dark blue eyes, pale grey eyebrows, long upper lip, cleft chin, ruddy complexion, short grey wig with three rows of curls; dark blue uniform (flag officer's full dress 1748-67 [1]) and white waistcoat, both gold-braided, ribbon of the Bath over his right shoulder, star on his left breast, white neck-cloth and wrist ruffles; in his left hand, a wooden telescope with brass eye-piece, his hat tucked in the crook of his arm which rests on a stone pedestal; greenish-blue background.

1) Information from the National Maritime Museum.

Conservationback to top

Minor losses in the varnish on the ribbon; pin holes at corners.

Provenanceback to top

Bought, May 1917, from G. Cohen, the purchaser at the sale, Phillips Son & Neale, 24 April 1917, lot 163 of the sitter's great grandson Sir G. F. C. Pocock, 3rd Bart.


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 Sir George Pocock