Hugh Douglas Hamilton RHA (Irish, 1739-1808) Portrait of a Lady Pastel and pencil on paper Signed centre left Literature: Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, online ed., J.375.221357 To be sold without reserve Dimensions: (Paper) 21.75 in. (H) x 15.75 in. (W) (Mount) 9.25 in. (H) x 7.25 in. (W)
Hugh Douglas Hamilton RHA (Irish, 1739-1808) Portrait of a Gentleman in Rome Oil on canvas laid to panel Inscribed verso to the panel Dimensions: (Canvas) 5.75 in. (H) x 5 in. (W) (Frame) 7 in. (H) x 6.5 in. (W)
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON, R.H.A. (DUBLIN 1736-1808). Portrait of Queen Charlotte, bust-length, facing left. pencil and pastel on paper, oval11 1/8 x 9 in. (28 x 22.8 cm).
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON, R.H.A. (DUBLIN 1736-1808). Portrait of a gentleman, traditionally identified as Arthur Hill, 2nd.... pastel on paper36 ½ x 26 in. (92.7 x 66 cm.).
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Portrait of Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1769-1822), later 2nd Marquess of Londonderry Oil on canvas, 74.5 x 65cm Provenance: Private collection, Ireland Literature: Walter Strickland, Dictionary of Irish Artists (Dublin and London, 1913) Vol. 1, p. 436; Fintan Cullen, ‘The Oil Paintings of Hugh Douglas Hamilton’, Walpole Society (1984) p. 183 Another version of Hamilton’s portrait hangs at the family home, Mountstewart, County Down Although the year before his premature death the sitter succeeded his father as 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, Robert Stewart will always be known to history by the family’s junior title, Viscount Castlereagh. Without doubt one of the most consequential figures in Irish, British and European history of the first two decades of the nineteenth century, Castlereagh was reviled by many contemporaries. Attracting the poetic ire of both Byron and Shelley ensured posthumous obloquy, with the latter famously versifying ‘I met Murder on the way – He had a mask like Castlereagh’. In Ireland his role in suppressing the 1798 Rebellion and steering through the Act of Union secured his position at the very apex of nationalist demonology. Daniel O’Connell styled him ‘the assassin of his country’ (though ironically he was a firm advocate of Catholic Emancipation, the ‘Liberator’s’ great cause) and later Castlereagh admitted ‘with respect to Ireland, I know I shall never be forgiven’. But it was not just in Ireland that Castlereagh was execrated. Though in no way directly responsible – indeed privately appalled by what happened – he took much of the blame for the Peterloo Massacre of 1818; this was the occasion of Shelley’s diatribe. More recently, however, Castlereagh’s political reputation has very largely been rehabilitated and his role emphasised, as one of the chief negotiators at the Congress of Vienna, which, after the fall of Napoleon, brought peace to Europe for a century. His biographer, John Bew, has argued for a more nuanced understanding of this highly divisive figure: ‘No British statesman of the 19th century reached the same level of international influence ... But very few have been so maligned by their own countrymen and so abused in history. This shy and handsome Ulsterman is perhaps the most hated domestic political figure in both modern British and Irish political history.’ In the Dictionary of National Biography meanwhile, Roland Thorne judges him ‘one of the first of a galaxy of statesmen to emerge from the Anglo-Irish union, of which Castlereagh remained a firm advocate, he was remarkable, given his Ulster background, for his support of Catholic relief, and saw that the long delay in granting this… was bound to jeopardise the success of the Act of Union (Oxford, DNB). Born in Dublin, Castlereagh entered the Irish parliament in 1790 as M.P. for County Down and rose quickly to the pinnacle of the Dublin Castle administration, becoming Chief Secretary in 1798 when not yet thirty. He subsequently served as Secretary for War, overseeing vital reforms of the army and astutely appointing fellow Irishman Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, to command British forces in the Iberian Peninsular. He resigned, however, after a duel in which he wounded the foreign secretary, George Canning. Castlereagh returned to office for a dazzlingly successful period as foreign secretary himself, both before and after Waterloo. In 1821 he accompanied George IV to Ireland, and was talked of as the next Prime Minister (he was certainly the king’s preferred choice), however, in the spring of the following year, he suffered a mental breakdown amidst rumours that he was being blackmailed for homosexuality (after an alleged ‘chance encounter with a hostile transvestite male who deliberately attempted to compromise him’ (ibid.)) and he committed suicide with a razor at his country estate in Kent. Castlereagh was buried in Westminster Abbey and on his tragic death some of his critics were won over: ‘even opponents…paid tribute to the courtesy and tact, personal courage and integrity which informed his business and diplomatic abilities, and to his good humour and amiability’ (ibid.). Castlereagh was famously good looking. Around the same time that he was painted in the present work, the sitter’s charm was analysed by George Napier, a colonel in his militia. ‘Lord Castlereagh is very handsome with the most soft and insinuating manners with which he cajoles both men and women – and by these advantages he carries what the spectator calls a letter of recommendation’ (cited Bew, Castlereagh, p. 165). His suave elegance was captured on canvas by Sir Thomas Lawrence, though not everyone agreed as to the success of his likeness with William Hazlitt thinking it had ‘a smug, upstart, haberdasher look, of which there is nothing in Lord Castlereagh’ (cited Bew, Castlereagh, p. 512). Here, in about 1799-1800, when, as Chief Secretary the sitter was much in Dublin on parliamentary business, he was painted very sympathetically by his compatriot Hugh Douglas Hamilton. This portrait survives in three autograph versions, including replicas at Mount Stewart, his childhood home in County Down (to which he added the west wing in 1804-06 to designs by George Dance) and, appropriately, in the parliamentary collection at the Palace of Westminster. This, however, is arguably the finest of the three, particularly notable in the plasticity of modelling of the head. The sober costume allows little distraction from the face. The portrait is typical in its elegant restraint of Hamilton’s work in his later period, between his return to Dublin in 1792 and his retirement in 1804. Ruth Kenny has noted the French inspiration of his late style, arguing that Hamilton ‘demonstrated an appreciation for the pared-down aesthetic, muted colouration and decidedly unshowy character of French portraits intimes’. Although it is surprising ‘that such appropriation was marketable in 1790s Ireland’, Dr Kenny continues ‘French aesthetics had long held sway in Ireland – as Hamilton’s early career demonstrates – and though the events of the 1790s enraged fashionable society’s political sensibilities, they could be conveniently separated from an apolitical appreciation of French style. Emily, Duchess of Leinster, for example, did not deviate from the Francophile tastes she had established in the 1760s’ (Ruth Kenny, Unpublished PhD thesis). The portrait was presumably completed either in Hamilton’s studio at 20 Frederick Street or the large premises to which he subsequently moved at 13 Clare Street, on the corner of Merrion Square. Castlereagh’s townhouse was on Merrion Square itself, so he had a very short stroll to either of Hamilton’s studios. A contemporary recalled a visit, attesting to his busy practice: ‘His rooms were crowded with pictures, most of which were whole lengths and full-lengths. We have never seen in any of the London portrait painters’ room so many works in actual progress’. Other sitters of the same years included political opponents of Castlereagh, notably Lord Edward FitzGerald, the rebel leader of 1798 and John Philpot Curran, associate of Henry Grattan and defence counsel for several United Irishmen, and loyalists such as Richard Mansergh St George, killed by rebels in 1798. Hamilton also painted Castlereagh’s father, the 1st Marquess (National Trust, Mount Stewart). Here he captures with intense penetration the brilliant, if mercurial, nature of this complex man who had a greater impact on European history than perhaps any of his Irish contemporaries. We are grateful to Ruth Kenny and William Laffan for their assistance in cataloguing this lot, and in particular to Dr Kenny for permission to quote from her unpublished PhD thesis.
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Portrait of Mr Playford, bust-length, in a brown coat and white stock; Portrait of Mrs Playford, bust-length, in a white dress and black fichu Pastel on paper, Oval, 23.5 x 19cm (2) Signed and dated 1776 Provenance : Sale, Christie's, London, 19 May 2000, lot 109; With The Oriel Gallery, where acquired April 2003
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Portrait of William Ormsby, M.P. of Willowbrook, Co Sligo (1718-1781); Portrait of Hannah Ormsby, née Wynne of Hazelwood, Co. Sligo ( - 1798); Portrait of Maria Susannah Ormsby (1745-1827); and Portrait of Jane Ormsby (1750-1802) Pastel on paper, oval, each 23.5 x 19.5cm, in original giltwood frames (4) Provenance : Collection of Lord Harlech (Ormsby-Gore), Glyn Cywarch, North Wales; Sale, Bonhams, London, 29 March 2017, lots 154, 411 and 412 (as Anna Tonelli); With Rafael Valls, London, 2018; With Gorry Gallery, where acquired October 2020 Exhibited : Cardiff, National Museum of Wales, Portraits from Welsh Houses, 1948, cat. no. 84. Literature : Portraits from Welsh Houses, exh. cat., Wales, 1948, p. 32,cat no. 84 (only Portrait of William Ormsby); J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, Cardiff, 1957, vol. 1, p. 76, no. 66 and 67 (Under Portraits formley at Brogyntyn); N. Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, London, 2006, p. 519; N. Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, online, no. J.722.143, J.722.145 and J.722.146 This fine collection of four pastels, depicting members of the Ormsby family, was attributed several years ago to Hugh Douglas Hamilton. The sitters - William and Hannah Ormsby and their two daughters Maria and Jane - commissioned portraits in both oil and pastel from Hamilton, and their characterful likenesses are assured examples of his distinctive style. The Ormsbys were a well-established west of Ireland Ascendancy family. William Ormsby MP lived with his wife and daughters at Willowbrook, Co. Sligo. Despite William’s pre-eminence, his pastel portrait by Hamilton is strikingly natural and well-observed; from his softly flushed cheeks to the strands of white hair escaping from his wig. His wife, Hannah (née Wynne), was originally of Hazelwood, Co Sligo, the Palladian villa designed by Richard Castle. Her portrait is a fine example of one of Hamilton’s most notable stylistic touches; the way in which he allows his graphite under-drawing to show through the pastel in places. This technique is particularly evident in the wonderfully free rendition of Hannah’s bonnet. The couple’s eldest daughter Maria was herself a keen amateur artist; her oil portrait by Hamilton depicts her holding a sketch book. She must have taken a keen interest in Hamilton's process, and her pastel portrait is perhaps the finest of the group. The texture of her loose curls is beautifully described and her direct gaze makes for a most striking image. The likeness of her younger sister Jane is also admirably rendered; rich brown eyes lending her portrait a captivating warmth. The dating of this family group is an interesting puzzle. William Ormsby died in 1781, yet the simple white gowns and hairbands worn by his daughters suggest that they sat to Hamilton in the 1790s. Hamilton’s oil painting of Maria, wearing similar attire, is indeed signed and dated 1796. This suggests, rather poignantly, that William’s pastel likeness was either created posthumously, or that his portrait was completed earlier and the family requested similar portraits to accompany it, after his demise. In either scenario, the grouping speaks to the powerful intimacy of pastel portraits and their ability to convey a more informal visualisation of family life. Such images were not intended to replace traditional family portraits in oil but to hang in harmony with them, fulfilling quite a different, complementary role. They functioned as personal documents, strengthening familial bonds in affectionate rather than genealogical ways. The idea of a portrait series of visually uniform, similarly sized and framed works, small enough to hang in close proximity to each other on a single wall, had obvious appeal in enshrining the identity of a group that had, in reality, been separated by death. Previously given to the artist Anna Tonelli (c.1763- 1846), a Florentine portraitist and pupil of Hamilton’s, the reattribution of the Ormsby group of pastels to Hamilton himself was based on a close analysis of technique. While Tonelli may have completed some of her training under Hamilton’s tutelage, her style is very different. Hamilton uses a more graphic approach – mixing graphite and pastel and often leaving strokes unblended. Tonelli’s application, on the other hand, is far smoother. Though very competent, Tonelli lacks Hamilton’s confidence and bravura in the pastel medium, so evident in the accomplished modelling of this group. The Ormsby portraits’ distinctive eighteenth-century gilt frames are typical of those used by Hamilton for a period of his career. They are of the type manufactured by George and William Hulbert, carvers and gilders who operated out of premises on Camden Street in Dublin. The glass in at least one of the frames (the portrait of William) is also original, recognisable from a characteristic small bubble apparent to one side; the result of traditional glass-making techniques. Ruth McKenny
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Full Length Portrait of a gentleman in a blue coat, with tan breeches, his left arm resting on a water trough, view of the Basilica Maxentius beyond, (1787) Pastel, 93.3 x 66.7cm Signed, inscribed and dated 'Hamilton F/Roma 1787 (lower right on the water trough) Provenance : The Irish Sale, Christie's, London, 12 May 2005, lot 57 The appearance of this fine example of Hugh Douglas Hamilton’s work is a rare opportunity to acquire one of the artist’s full-length pastel portraits, which seldom come to market. While the sitter is unknown, he is evidently a man of some means, procuring a portrait from Hamilton while in Rome, as a fashionable souvenir to bring home from his Grand Tour. Leaning casually on a water trough, with a view of the Basilica Maxentius behind him, Hamilton suggests his subject’s easy confidence in his august surroundings; invoking with a single stance a whole culture of ease and privilege, scholarly discrimination and conviviality. The portrait is signed and dated 1787. Hamilton had been in Italy for around five years at this point and was at the height of his powers. This pastel was completed not long before he embarked on his large-scale portrait Canova and Tresham – widely considered his chef d’oeuvre – probably completed in early 1788 and now in the V&A collection. By the late 1780s, Hamilton was at some remove from the popular, small-scale pastellist of his early London days. Through his friendship with artists such as Antonio Canova and John Flaxman, he was associating with the Roman avant-garde and was witness to their ongoing attempts to test the limits of their chosen media. This, combined with his relative lack of rivals in the pastel medium in Rome, gave Hamilton both the encouragement and the freedom he needed to try out new ideas and expand his repertoire. He was increasingly interested in pushing the limits of pastel’s possibilities and seemed keen to make it compete in impact with oil painting. This experimentation is most evident in an expansion of scale in Hamilton’s pastel work during the 1780s. From small head-and-shoulders ovals, Hamilton steadily increased the size of his portraits, until at their largest they measured nearly a metre in height. His sitters were now depicted full-length and the plain blue and brown backgrounds of his early works were replaced by beautifully delineated Roman landscapes and carefully observed natural details. A new-found grandeur and permanence replaced the more transient and fragile appeal of his youthful work. In particular, Hamilton’s ever-increasing skill in the rendition of textural and colouristic effects reached their zenith in these years. Although some abrasion is evident in this portrait and the pastel has been subject to a small area of water damage, most of the detailing is intact and exhibits many characteristic Hamilton flourishes. His technical assurance is abundantly evident; in the fine point work on the lace cravat, the mottled shine of the sitter’s coat buttons, and the luminous expanse of the summer sky beyond. The wonderfully observed colour accents - the rich indigo of the sitter’s jacket and the vibrant mustard yellow of his gloves - also give this work an undeniable vigour. No detail appears beneath notice, from the delicate delineation of the scrubby undergrowth at the sitter’s feet to the flashes of bright blue used to suggest sunlight through tree branches. Hamilton’s typical combination of blended and unblended pastels gives the work a remarkable three-dimensional effect. In its conception, this portrait is strikingly similar to Hamilton’s portrait of Frederick North, later fifth Earl of Guilford, executed in 1790, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Both are dressed in near identical attire and share the Basilica Maxentius backdrop. This repetition of setting was not unusual for Hamilton. He often worked from his own stock of sketches and studies, or took inspiration from those by other artists; adapting elements, with subtle variations, for each new commission. The inclusion of Piranesi’s The Amphitheatre of Verona, Pianta di Roma and Views of Rome in Hamilton’s posthumous sale of effects may indicate a source of background material for the portraits of North and the man in a blue coat; Piranesi etched the Basilica Maxentius many times. While this artistic duplication can be read as the pictorial strategy of a sharp businessman, eager to turn out as many portraits as possible, the habitual deployment of the same recognisable settings also signified as an act of cultural requisition on the sitters’ part. Treating Italian cityscapes rather like painted theatrical scenery into which any figure could be inserted, Hamilton’s full-length pastels of English and Irish travellers transposed Northern European mores over an Italian backdrop. The Anglocentric mania for portraiture had not infiltrated Italian society to any significant extent and artists such as Hamilton (and his predecessors Mengs and Batoni) catered exclusively for tourists. Thus, the familiar landscapes of the Roman Forum, and the sheen of cosmopolitan sophistication and learning they offered, were ripe for visual appropriation, signalling the sitter’s unrivalled appreciation of their magnificence. This portrait has been in the same private collection for several years. Its sale offers the prospect of acquiring a large-scale work by an artist in full command of his medium; a celebration of both Hamilton’s pastel prowess and the beauty of eighteenth-century Rome. Ruth Kenny
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Portrait of Mr Playford, bust-length, in a brown coat and white stock; Portrait of Mrs Playford, bust-length, in a white dress and black fichu Pastel on paper, Oval, 23.5 x 19cm (2) Signed and dated 1776 Provenance : Sale, Christie's, London, 19 May 2000, lot 109; With The Oriel Gallery, where acquired April 2003
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Portrait of Hyacinthe, Marchioness Wellesley, half-length, in a black dress and muslin scarf pastel, oval, 24 x 19cm Provenance: Sale, ChristieÕs, London, 12 May 2006, lot 17
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Portrait of a Young Officer Pastel on paper, oval, 25.4 x 20.3cm Inscribed verso Provenance : Sale, Whyte's, 23 September 2019, Lot 111
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Portrait of Christopher Norton (c. 1740-1799) Small Half-Length, in a Brown Coat and Blue Waistcoat Oil on canvas, 26.5 x 22.5cm Although, Hugh Douglas HamiltonÕs Italian sojourn, and particularly his friendship with Antonio Canova (1757-1822), has been well documented, this choice example of his oil portraiture Ð rare in its medium and scale for this period of his career Ð has escaped notice. A pastel by Hamilton of the same subject, the artist and art dealer, Christopher Norton, closely related but seemingly the product of a different sitting, is also recorded (ChristieÕs 7 Dec 2016, lot 177, GB£11,250). It should not be surprising that Hamilton portrayed Norton on more than one occasion, and this format of a small oil is likely to reflect the paintingÕs origins as a Ôfriendship portraitÕ, a gift between friends, rather than a commissioned portrait. Both artists were active in antiquarian expatriate circles in the Eternal City and were closely linked by links of friendship, business and shared artistic endeavour in the crucible in which the international neoclassical style was being forged. No doubt, too, the fact that they were almost exact contemporaries helped build the relationship to which this very sympathetic portrait attests. After training in the St Martin's Lane Academy, Norton started his career as an apprentice to the landscape engraver Pierre-Charles Canot (c.1710-77), winning a premium from the London Society of Arts in 1760 and in the same year he travelled to Italy, where he would spend almost his entire career. Two years later he was documented as living in Rome with James Byres (1733-1817), the Scottish architect and dealer in old master painting and classical sculpture, who was also an associate of Ð and, indeed, was also painted by Ð Hugh Douglas Hamilton. In time, Norton and Byres went into partnership, exporting ancient and more recent works of art from the city to clients back home, often to very lucrative effect. Eventually, through his marriage to Janet Moir, he became ByresÕs nephew. Norton also developed a close relationship with the Welsh landscape painter Thomas Jones (1742-1803), corresponding with him Ôconcerning the dispersal of his own pictures in ItalyÕ (John Ingamells, Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, 1701-1800, p. 716). NortonÕs diary covering the period 1763-94 survives and includes references to Jones, Hamilton and Thomas Jenkins (1722-98), the painter, dealer and antiquary (ChristieÕs, 8 Jun 2000, lot 12). When James Martin (1738-1810) visited his Rome studio he saw 'sev[era]l. copies by him of pictures belonging to Mr Jenkins & some of his own engraving'. In 1766 Norton produced prints for Byres's Etruria, and he etched several plates for the Views of Italy by Peter Stephens published in 1767, a project on which the Irish artists James Forrester (1730-76) also worked. The pastel portrait by Hamilton sold at ChristieÕs in 2016was recorded in NortonÕs house in Rome in 1783 which, taken with the evidence of his age as about forty, suggests a likely date for this oil. An earlier portrait of Norton by Nathaniel Dance (1735-1811) shows him as a younger man holding a palette and brush (Aberdeen Art Gallery). After so many years living in Italy he naturally identified with the country and, while Hamilton went back to Ireland for his last productive period, Norton returned to Rome, writing in 1797, ÔI cannot help feeling very much for a country where I have spent so many happy years and which looked upon in some measure as my own.Õ
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Portrait of William Ormsby, M.P. of Willowbrook, Co Sligo (1718-1781); Portrait of Hannah Ormsby, ne Wynne of Hazelwood, Co. Sligo ( - 1798); Portrait of Maria Susannah Ormsby (1745-1827); and Portrait of Jane Ormsby (1750-1802) Pastel on paper, oval, each 23.5 x 19.5cm, in original giltwood frames (4) Provenance : Collection of Lord Harlech (Ormsby-Gore), Glyn Cywarch, North Wales; Sale, Bonhams, London, 29 March 2017, lots 154, 411 and 412 (as Anna Tonelli); With Rafael Valls, London, 2018; With Gorry Gallery, where acquired October 2020 Exhibited : Cardiff, National Museum of Wales, Portraits from Welsh Houses, 1948, cat. no. 84. Literature : Portraits from Welsh Houses, exh. cat., Wales, 1948, p. 32,cat no. 84 (only Portrait of William Ormsby); J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, Cardiff, 1957, vol. 1, p. 76, no. 66 and 67 (Under Portraits formley at Brogyntyn); N. Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, London, 2006, p. 519; N. Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, online, no. J.722.143, J.722.145 and J.722.146 This fine collection of four pastels, depicting members of the Ormsby family, was attributed several years ago to Hugh Douglas Hamilton. The sitters - William and Hannah Ormsby and their two daughters Maria and Jane - commissioned portraits in both oil and pastel from Hamilton, and their characterful likenesses are assured examples of his distinctive style. The Ormsbys were a well-established west of Ireland Ascendancy family. William Ormsby MP lived with his wife and daughters at Willowbrook, Co. Sligo. Despite WilliamÕs pre-eminence, his pastel portrait by Hamilton is strikingly natural and well-observed; from his softly flushed cheeks to the strands of white hair escaping from his wig. His wife, Hannah (ne Wynne), was originally of Hazelwood, Co Sligo, the Palladian villa designed by Richard Castle. Her portrait is a fine example of one of HamiltonÕs most notable stylistic touches; the way in which he allows his graphite under-drawing to show through the pastel in places. This technique is particularly evident in the wonderfully free rendition of HannahÕs bonnet. The coupleÕs eldest daughter Maria was herself a keen amateur artist; her oil portrait by Hamilton depicts her holding a sketch book. She must have taken a keen interest in Hamilton's process, and her pastel portrait is perhaps the finest of the group. The texture of her loose curls is beautifully described and her direct gaze makes for a most striking image. The likeness of her younger sister Jane is also admirably rendered; rich brown eyes lending her portrait a captivating warmth. The dating of this family group is an interesting puzzle. William Ormsby died in 1781, yet the simple white gowns and hairbands worn by his daughters suggest that they sat to Hamilton in the 1790s. HamiltonÕs oil painting of Maria, wearing similar attire, is indeed signed and dated 1796. This suggests, rather poignantly, that WilliamÕs pastel likeness was either created posthumously, or that his portrait was completed earlier and the family requested similar portraits to accompany it, after his demise. In either scenario, the grouping speaks to the powerful intimacy of pastel portraits and their ability to convey a more informal visualisation of family life. Such images were not intended to replace traditional family portraits in oil but to hang in harmony with them, fulfilling quite a different, complementary role. They functioned as personal documents, strengthening familial bonds in affectionate rather than genealogical ways. The idea of a portrait series of visually uniform, similarly sized and framed works, small enough to hang in close proximity to each other on a single wall, had obvious appeal in enshrining the identity of a group that had, in reality, been separated by death. Previously given to the artist Anna Tonelli (c.1763- 1846), a Florentine portraitist and pupil of HamiltonÕs, the reattribution of the Ormsby group of pastels to Hamilton himself was based on a close analysis of technique. While Tonelli may have completed some of her training under HamiltonÕs tutelage, her style is very different. Hamilton uses a more graphic approach Ð mixing graphite and pastel and often leaving strokes unblended. TonelliÕs application, on the other hand, is far smoother. Though very competent, Tonelli lacks HamiltonÕs confidence and bravura in the pastel medium, so evident in the accomplished modelling of this group. The Ormsby portraitsÕ distinctive eighteenth-century gilt frames are typical of those used by Hamilton for a period of his career. They are of the type manufactured by George and William Hulbert, carvers and gilders who operated out of premises on Camden Street in Dublin. The glass in at least one of the frames (the portrait of William) is also original, recognisable from a characteristic small bubble apparent to one side; the result of traditional glass-making techniques. Ruth McKenny
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON RHA (1740-1808) Full Length Portrait of a gentleman in a blue coat, with tan breeches, his left arm resting on a water trough, view of the Basilica Maxentius beyond, (1787) Pastel, 93.3 x 66.7cm Signed, inscribed and dated 'Hamilton F/Roma 1787 (lower right on the water trough) Provenance : The Irish Sale, Christie's, London, 12 May 2005, lot 57 The appearance of this fine example of Hugh Douglas HamiltonÕs work is a rare opportunity to acquire one of the artistÕs full-length pastel portraits, which seldom come to market. While the sitter is unknown, he is evidently a man of some means, procuring a portrait from Hamilton while in Rome, as a fashionable souvenir to bring home from his Grand Tour. Leaning casually on a water trough, with a view of the Basilica Maxentius behind him, Hamilton suggests his subjectÕs easy confidence in his august surroundings; invoking with a single stance a whole culture of ease and privilege, scholarly discrimination and conviviality. The portrait is signed and dated 1787. Hamilton had been in Italy for around five years at this point and was at the height of his powers. This pastel was completed not long before he embarked on his large-scale portrait Canova and Tresham Ð widely considered his chef dÕoeuvre Ð probably completed in early 1788 and now in the V&A collection. By the late 1780s, Hamilton was at some remove from the popular, small-scale pastellist of his early London days. Through his friendship with artists such as Antonio Canova and John Flaxman, he was associating with the Roman avant-garde and was witness to their ongoing attempts to test the limits of their chosen media. This, combined with his relative lack of rivals in the pastel medium in Rome, gave Hamilton both the encouragement and the freedom he needed to try out new ideas and expand his repertoire. He was increasingly interested in pushing the limits of pastelÕs possibilities and seemed keen to make it compete in impact with oil painting. This experimentation is most evident in an expansion of scale in HamiltonÕs pastel work during the 1780s. From small head-and-shoulders ovals, Hamilton steadily increased the size of his portraits, until at their largest they measured nearly a metre in height. His sitters were now depicted full-length and the plain blue and brown backgrounds of his early works were replaced by beautifully delineated Roman landscapes and carefully observed natural details. A new-found grandeur and permanence replaced the more transient and fragile appeal of his youthful work. In particular, HamiltonÕs ever-increasing skill in the rendition of textural and colouristic effects reached their zenith in these years. Although some abrasion is evident in this portrait and the pastel has been subject to a small area of water damage, most of the detailing is intact and exhibits many characteristic Hamilton flourishes. His technical assurance is abundantly evident; in the fine point work on the lace cravat, the mottled shine of the sitterÕs coat buttons, and the luminous expanse of the summer sky beyond. The wonderfully observed colour accents - the rich indigo of the sitterÕs jacket and the vibrant mustard yellow of his gloves - also give this work an undeniable vigour. No detail appears beneath notice, from the delicate delineation of the scrubby undergrowth at the sitterÕs feet to the flashes of bright blue used to suggest sunlight through tree branches. HamiltonÕs typical combination of blended and unblended pastels gives the work a remarkable three-dimensional effect. In its conception, this portrait is strikingly similar to HamiltonÕs portrait of Frederick North, later fifth Earl of Guilford, executed in 1790, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Both are dressed in near identical attire and share the Basilica Maxentius backdrop. This repetition of setting was not unusual for Hamilton. He often worked from his own stock of sketches and studies, or took inspiration from those by other artists; adapting elements, with subtle variations, for each new commission. The inclusion of PiranesiÕs The Amphitheatre of Verona, Pianta di Roma and Views of Rome in HamiltonÕs posthumous sale of effects may indicate a source of background material for the portraits of North and the man in a blue coat; Piranesi etched the Basilica Maxentius many times. While this artistic duplication can be read as the pictorial strategy of a sharp businessman, eager to turn out as many portraits as possible, the habitual deployment of the same recognisable settings also signified as an act of cultural requisition on the sittersÕ part. Treating Italian cityscapes rather like painted theatrical scenery into which any figure could be inserted, HamiltonÕs full-length pastels of English and Irish travellers transposed Northern European mores over an Italian backdrop. The Anglocentric mania for portraiture had not infiltrated Italian society to any significant extent and artists such as Hamilton (and his predecessors Mengs and Batoni) catered exclusively for tourists. Thus, the familiar landscapes of the Roman Forum, and the sheen of cosmopolitan sophistication and learning they offered, were ripe for visual appropriation, signalling the sitterÕs unrivalled appreciation of their magnificence. This portrait has been in the same private collection for several years. Its sale offers the prospect of acquiring a large-scale work by an artist in full command of his medium; a celebration of both HamiltonÕs pastel prowess and the beauty of eighteenth-century Rome. Ruth Kenny
Hugh Douglas Hamilton (Irish, 1739-1808) Portrait of a lady in a white dress inscribed 'Portrait in Pastel of / Madame Vigee Le Brun / by herself' on an old label verso pastel 24 x 19cm Although once thought to be a self-portrait by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, the present work can be conclusively attributed, based on style and composition, to Hugh Douglas Hamilton. The unusual muslin flowing from the sitter's dress give the work a historiated tone and suggest the pastel is not a conventional portrait but that the sitter depicted could be in the guise of a deity or dancer. We are grateful to Neil Jeffares for his assistance in cataloguing this lot on the basis of photographs.
AFTER HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (IRISH CIRCA 1739-1808)PORTRAIT OF MADAME LA TOUCHEPastel25 x 19.5cm (9¾ x 7½ in.)Provenance:James S() PelhamPawsey & Payne, LondonThe original work sold for £16,325 at Adam's, Dublin on 28 September 2005Measurements do not include the frame unless specified. Please note Dreweatts are not liable for damage to frames or mounts.
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON, R.H.A. (DUBLIN 1736-1808). Portrait of James Colyear Dawkins (1760-1840) of Standlynch Park, Wiltshire,.... pencil and pastel on laid paper, oval 9 ¾ x 8 ½ in. (25 x 21.5 cm.).
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON R.H.A. (IRISH 1740-1808) PORTRAIT OF A LADY PORTRAIT OF A LADY WEARING A BLUE DRESS, BLACK SHAWL AND LACE CAP, A BLUE RIBBON CHOKER AND PEARL DROP EARRING signed centre left: HD Hamilton/ delt pastel over pencil 23.5 x 19cm; 9¼ x 7½in (oval) together with a pair of Kit Kat Club portraits attributed to Robert Byng (1666-1720) after Sir Godfrey Kneller, of Lord Charles Mohun and George Stepney, each inscribed with sitter's name, each grey wash heightened with white on blue paper various sizes, all unframed (3)
Hamilton (Hugh Douglas, circa 1739-1808). Portraits of Lord Sandys [and] Lady Sandys, 1771 * Hamilton (Hugh Douglas, circa 1739-1808). Portraits of Lord Sandys [and] Lady Sandys, 1771, a pair of oval head and shoulders pastel portraits on paper, both half-profile to left, the first showing Edwin, 2nd Lord Sandys, Baron of Ombersley (1726-1797), wearing a beige coat with a cream and red waistcoat and white stock, signed and dated 1771 lower left, a few foxing and mould spots, lightly rubbed in places, the second portraying his wife Anna Maria née Colebrook (1720-1806), wearing a white dress, with a bow of pink-edged ribbon, and a headpiece of white lace and pink-edged gathered ribbon, rubbed in places, each mount aperture 250 x 200 mm (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 ins), uniform gilt moulded frames, glazed (41.5 x 36.5 cm), both frame versos with various ink manuscript annotations regarding the sitters and provenance, including a near contemporary ink manuscript label on the verso of Anna Maria QTY: (2) NOTE: Provenance: William Roberts (1862-1940) art critic and art sales correspondent of the Times; Sotheby's sale 31st July 1940 (lot 54); (Arthur Jaffé (1880-1954); Estate of Michael Jaffé (1923-1997) art historian and former director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; thence by descent. International lawyer Arthur Jaffé was an eminent scholar and collector of miniature paintings. He was an authority on John Smart, and spent many years researching the miniaturist, with the intention of writing a catalogue raisonné of the artists works. Although he died before the task could be completed, the body of work he had produced formed the basis of Daphne Fosketts book, John Smart. The Man and his Miniatures, published in 1964. Anna Maria, daughter of James Colebrooke, was the widow of William Paine King of Fineshade Abbey, Northamptonshire, when she married Edwin Sandys in 1769. Edwin inherited his title when his father Samuel Sandys, 1st Lord Sandys, Baron of Ombersley, died in 1770. The notes on the frame versos explain that these works were purchased from Sotheby's in 1940, "from the collection of the late W. Roberts for many years Arts Sales Correspondent of The Times, lot 54 ...", additionally the notes describe how the pair of pastels were, "reframed from square (dating about 1911) by P.D. Colnagli & Obach into these ovals (dating 1779) by A. Jaffé 1941". The early ink manuscript label reads "Anna Maria Baroness Lady Sandys married J. King Esquire of Finshade - Nottinghamshire, and afterwards Edwin Lord Sandys." The portrait of Lord Sandys has a postcard adhered to the verso, inscribed in ink manuscript, signed by Evangline Roberts and dated September 1940. It explains that these two pastels had been, "given to my late father some years ago but by whom I don't remember". Arthur Jaffé had clearly been trying to discover more of the provenance of these drawings. Under the postcard is a Thomas Agnew & Sons printed label with ink manuscript 'A. Jaffé Esqr, to be called for'.
Hugh Douglas Hamilton RHA (Irish, 1739-1808) Portrait of a gentleman, half-length, in a cream coat; Portrait of a lady, half-length, in a blue and cream striped dress and black lace shawl a pair, both signed and dated 'H. D. Hamilton fect Sept 1770', pastel, oval 21 x 17cm (2) Condition Report: Overall: 34 x 27.5cm Overall the definition is good and the colours are bright. Light rubbing and abrasions to edges of the portrait of a lady with a stain to edge in the upper right, please refer to illustration. Not viewed out of glazed frames.
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1740-1808) A bust portrait of Pricilla Wyatt (Née Edgell) Pastel , 25.5x 20.5 cm, oval Signed lower left, and with the Wyatt family coat of arms to the right, and inscribed on the reverse
Hugh Douglas Hamilton (Dublin 1740-1808) Portrait of Nathaniel Marchant, RA bears a period inscription on the backboard 'Nathaniel Marchant' pastel, oval 24.5 x 19.5cm (9 5/8 x 7 11/16in). in the original carved frame
ATTRIBUTED TO HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (BRITISH 1739-1808)A PAIR OF PORTRAITSPastel, oval24.5 x 19cm (9½ x 7¼ in.) (2)Provenance: Christopher Buck Antiques, London, 2011, where purchased by the present owner
Two portraits: "Prince Charles Edward Stuart 1720-1788 ('Bonnie Prince Charlie')" c1785 Pastel on paper) 24 x 19.5cm. And "Cardinal Duke of York (younger brother of Bonnie Prince Charlie)" c1785 Pastel on paper 24 x 19.5cm. Both in Roman neoclassical frames of a type associated with this artist. Provenance: Edward Grant Fraser-Tytler, Aldourie Castle, Inverness-shire. (x 2)
Two British School Portraits, Late 18th/Early 19th Century Hugh Douglas Hamilton (British, 1739-1808) Portrait of the Duke of Rutland as a Young Man chalk and pastel on paper signed HD Hamilton and illegibly dated 177[?], lower right 9 x 7 1/4 inches. Frame 11 1/8 x 9 1/2 inches. John Russell (English, 1745-1806) Portrait of Captain James Woodward Scott as a Young Man pastel on vellum 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches. Frame 12 1/8 x 10 1/8 inches. Provenance: (Duke of Rutland) H. Danker, Dublin, Ireland, 1976
ATTRIBUTED TO HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (BRITISH 1739-1808)A PAIR OF PORTRAITSPastel, oval24.5 x 19cm (9½ x 7¼ in.) (2)Provenance:Christopher Buck Antiques, London, 2011, where purchased by the present owner.
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1740-1808) Portrait of a Young Boy with Red Hair, Dressed in Van Dyck Costume Pastel on paper, 24 x 19.5 cm. (9.5 x 7.6) Signed and dated 1772
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1739-1808) Portrait of John Ponsonby (1713 - 1787), small half length with powdered hair, blue coat and white stock Pastel over crayon, 24 x 19cm Old label preserved verso Rt. Honble John Ponsonby died 1789 aged 76 The Rt Hon John Ponsonby (1713-1787) was the son of Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Earl of Bessborough and Sarah Margetson. He was born on 29th March 1713 and married on 22nd September 1743 Lady Elisabeth Cavendish (c. 1727 - 1796) daughter of William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire and Catherine Hoskins. He was invested as a Privy Counsellor and ultimately held the office of Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He commissioned Bishopscourt, Straffan, Co. Kildare, a large Classical House in the style of James Gandon circa 1780-90.
Attributed to Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1740-1808) "Portrait of Lady Gardiner (wife of Luke Gardiner)," pastel on paper, approx. 24cms x 19cms (9 1/2" x 7 1/2"), contemporary gilt frame, inscribed verso. (1)
Hugh Douglas Hamilton (British, 1739-1808) Portrait of a Mother and Daughter pastel over pencil on laid paper laid on canvas 15 3/4 x 13 1/2 inches (sight). This lot is located in Chicago. Provenance: Sotheby's, 29 November 1973, Lot 73 Christie's, 11 July 1995, Lot 13 Private Collection until 2018 Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd., London Literature: Anne Crookshank and the Knight of Glin, The Painters of Ireland circa 1660-1920, 1978, p. 72, pl. 55
Hamilton (Hugh Douglas, circa 1739-1808). Oval portrait of a boy, 1772 * Hamilton (Hugh Douglas, circa 1739-1808). Portrait of a Boy, 1772, oval head and shoulders pastel portrait on paper, half-profile to right, of an auburn-haired young boy wearing a black coat with lace-edged white collar, signed and dated lower right, 23 x 18.5 cm (9 x 7 1/4 ins), gilt moulded frame (28.7 x 24 cm) QTY: (1)
Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1740 - 1808) Portrait of Lady Caroline Spencer (1763 - 1813) Oval, pastel on paper, 23.5 x 19cm (9¼ x 7½) Signed indistinctly LL, inscribed verso and with a trade label for 'Royal County Depository, Reading, C &G Ayers, Ltd' and inscribed thereon 'Viscountess Churchill' Provenance: By direct descent from the sitter to Victor, 3rd Viscount Churchill (1934-2017); With Guy Peppiatt Fine Art, London; Private collection, Dublin. Exhibited: London, Society of Artists, 1775, no.108 This particularly charming pastel portrait by Hugh Douglas Hamilton shows the young Caroline Spencer, the oldest daughter of George Spencer Churchill, 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739-1817) and his wife Caroline Russell (d.1811). This portrait dates from 1775 when she was twelve. It was exhibited at the Society of Artists, in London 1775. Subsequently Caroline married Henry Henry Welbore Agar, 2nd Viscount Clifden (1761-1836) of Gowran Castle, Co. Kilkenny in 1792. The ducal connection and the young brides attraction were commented on back in Ireland: I am not surprised that the Viscount has been inveigled by the splendour of Blenheim and the charms of his amiable wife to delay his journey to Bath (Cited Anthony Malcomson, Archbishop Charles Agar Churchmanship and Politics in Ireland, 1760-1810, Dublin, 2002, 513). This was a truly splendid match for the Irishman and was likely facilitated by his influential kinsman Archbishop Charles Agar. Caroline, Anthony Malcomson writes, was a strong-minded young lady who had already turned down, two much better offers(ibid.). She had, in fact, broken off engagements with both George Leveson- Gower, Viscount Trentham, and George Gordon, Lord Strathavaon. A decade or so after she sat for Hamilton as a child, Caroline, and her sister Elizabeth, were painted by George Romney in a famous composition showing the former sketching the latter playing the harp. Though the Romney portrait was commissioned by the sitters father it descended in the Cliften family until 1896. When it was sold by Joseph Duveen to Henry Huntington it was the third most expensive painting ever sold in Britain (Huntington Library, San Marino, CA). Caroline died back home at Blenheim Castle in November 1813 and was buried in the family vault of the Dukes of Marlborough, next to her mother. Unlike the Romney, the pastel descended within the Churchill family until recently.
CIRCLE OF HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (BRITISH, 1739-1808) - PORTRAIT OF LT. WILLIAM JEFFREY, CIRCA 1793 CIRCLE OF HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (BRITISH, 1739-1808) Portrait of Lt. William Jeffrey, circa 1793 Inscribed to panel on reverse with historical details Pastel, oval 9½ x 7½in. (24 x 19cm.) The inscription reads Wm. Jeffrey son of Wm. H. Jeffrey. Sailed in the HOUGHTON on Tuesday May the 27th 1793. Then being only 15 years and 8 months old, to the East Indies, by which time he had been promoted to a Lieutenant in his Majesty's 74th regiment stationed at Fort St George, (Dacca) the youth joined his father the year after his arrival in the East... ln going after his father who had fought at B.... & who was now residing at Dacca.... The Houghton named here was named after the eponymous house in Norfolk and was the fifth vessel of the name, used because the Walpole’s were majority shareholders. Built by Wells Yard, Deptford in 1782, she completed five cruises before being wrecked in 1803 in the China sea.
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1739 - 1808). A PAIR OF GEORGE III OVAL PORTRAIT PASTEL DRAWINGS inscribed on reverse Member Grattons Parliment Ireland artist Hugh Hamilton depicting a portrait of Henry Gratton and an Officer of the British Army - in glazed gilt moulded frames, signed. (25cm high 20cm wide )
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON, R.H.A. (DUBLIN 1736-1808) Portrait of a gentleman, half-length turned to the left, wearing a brown coat... pencil and pastel 9 x 7 in. (22.9 x 17.8 cm.), oval
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON, R.H.A. (DUBLIN 1736-1808) Portrait of a lady, small full-length, in a pink robe tied with a blue sash,... pastel 25 ½ x 17 ½ in. (64.6 x 44.5 cm.)
Pastel on paper, unsigned, with an indistinct paper label on the reverse. 9 1/4 x 8 in. (sheet, roundel), 13 x 10 3/4 in. (frame). The Neoclassicist: Niall Smith
Ø ATTRIBUTED TO HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1739-1808): Portrait of a lady identified as Dorothea Rotheram, wife of Captain Rotheram, circa 1790 Ø ATTRIBUTED TO HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1739-1808) Portrait of a lady identified as Dorothea Rotheram, wife of Captain Rotheram, circa 1790 Coloured chalks 9½ x 7½in. (24 x 19cm.) in oval frame; together with a miniature portrait of a lady in mourning, identified as a daughter of Captain Rotheram, watercolour on ivory, circa 1830, framed, overall approx. -- 5 x 4½in. (13 x 11.5cm.) (2) Provenance: Captain Edward Rotheram (1753-1830) and thence by direct descent.
![Hamilton (Hugh Douglas, circa 1739-1808). Portraits of Lord Sandys [and] Lady Sandys, 1771](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Dominic/08/775208/H0433-L377939510.jpg)
