Stephen Lushington

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Stephen Lushington

by William Holman Hunt
oil on canvas, 1862
32 1/4 in. x 25 1/2 in. (819 mm x 648 mm)
Given by the sitter's granddaughter, Miss Susan Lushington, 1912
Primary Collection
NPG 1646

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • William Holman Hunt (1827-1910), Pre-Raphaelite painter. Artist or producer of 2 portraits, Sitter in 29 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Marsh, Jan, The Pre-Raphaelite Circle, 2013, p. 100 Read entry

    'My father wished me to give this portrait of his father the Right Honourable Stephen Lushington by Holman Hunt to the National Portrait Gallery,' wrote Susan Lushington in 1912. 'I know that Holman Hunt considered it one of the best portraits he ever did.'

  • Marsh, Jan, Insights: The Pre-Raphaelite Circle, 2005, p. 96
  • Ormond, Richard, Early Victorian Portraits, 1973, p. 277
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 393
  • Simon, Jacob, The Art of the Picture Frame: Artists, Patrons and the Framing of Portraits in Britain, 1997 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 8 November 1996 - 9 February 1997), p. 174 Read entry

    Gilt compo on pine, mitred, arched top. 4 3⁄ 4 inches plus 3⁄ 4 inch slip.

    This portrait of the lawyer and reformer, Stephen Lushington, was commissioned in 1862 by his son, Vernon, a friend of Holman Hunt. It has a most distinctive frame which closely matches one made for the National Gallery in 1858 by Eliza and C. Foord to take two recently acquired panels, Christ and The Virgin, after Quentin Massys.1

    The appearance of the Massys frame is intriguing. The National Gallery's Director, Sir Charles Eastlake, was closely involved in its choice for he wrote to the Keeper, Ralph Wornum, on 9 November 1857, 'I will see about a design for the frame - for the two should be in one frame'. It would seem likely that the pattern originated with Eastlake, or a member of his wide circle of acquaintances, rather than with Foord's the framemaker.

    As to the frame on the portrait of Lushington, it was probably made by Foord & Dickinson, as the firm became known, since the similarities in profile and ornament with the National Gallery frame, even down to the use of an arched top, are so great as to make it unlikely that any other maker was involved. In design the frame has sufficient elements in common with Holman Hunt's own frames and frame drawings to make one ask if he could have been involved. At the very least he must have been aware of Lushington's choice of frame since the portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1863. Hunt may have directed his friend to Foord's, whom he was using to frame some of his own work.2 The question remains as to whether Hunt actively approved of the design for he took a very strong interest in the framing of his pictures.

    1 I am most grateful to Sarah Perry and David Carter for examining the National Gallery records on my behalf. The frame cost ten guineas; see the payment order to Eliza and C. Foord dated 1 March 1858.

    2 A payment of twenty-five guineas to Foord & Co. appears in Hunt's bank account on 28 February 1861. Information from Judith Bronkhurst who has kindly corresponded with me over a period of time about this frame. In her opinion Hunt did not design it himself, but she points out similarities to Hunt's frame designs, including one in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (5985 P 86).

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1862back to top

Current affairs

The Lancashire cotton famine, a depression in the north-west textile industry brought about by the American civil war, reaches its climax. With large numbers of mills closing after Confederate blockades halted cotton supplies, many Lancashire families were in receipt of relief.

Art and science

Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard carry out the first pasteurisation tests, the process of heating liquids at 55 degree Celsius or higher for short periods of time, destroying viruses and harmful organisms such as bacteria and yeast. .
Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables is published, covering the Napoleonic wars. It traces the ex-convict Jean Valjean's character against wider questions of social and political justice, duty and love.

International

Otto Eduard Leopold Bismarck becomes Minister-President of Prussia, appointed by Wilhelm I after the liberal Diet refused to authorise funding for a proposed reorganisation of the army. Bismarck, intent on maintaining royal supremacy, engineers the Unification of Germany during his time in office.
John Hanning Speke claims to have found the source of the Nile, proving that the Victoria Nile issued from the north end of lake Victoria, over Ripon Falls.

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