James Stuart

This portraitback to top

Dated by the sitter’s dress and apparent age. The attribution to Jean was first proposed by Basil Long in 1928. [1]

Footnotesback to top

1) Letter to Hake, 15 March 1928 (NPG archive). The donor had touchingly believed it to be by Reynolds: ‘my Father being eminent in Art & Science would doubtless have employed the first rate Artist’ (letter to Scharf, 29 November 1858; NPG archive).

Physical descriptionback to top

Clear grey eyes, white powdered wig, wearing a brown suit with silver piping.

Provenanceback to top

Presented by the sitter’s son, Lt. James Stuart RN, 1858.<sup>1

1</sup> He had written to Scharf, 11 August 1858, saying that ‘It may add to the interest thereof that it should be presented in the year 1858 by a man whose father was born in the reign of Queen Anne’ (NPG archive).


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.

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