Poppy Harvey-Jones
Head of Sale
Lot 37
George Romney(Beckside 1734-1802 Kendal)Portrait of Montagu Burgoyne, half-length, in a red coat
6 July 2016, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £25,000 inc. premium
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George Romney (Beckside 1734-1802 Kendal)
Portrait of Montagu Burgoyne, half-length, in a red coat
oil on canvas
76.1 x 63.1cm (29 15/16 x 24 13/16in).
oil on canvas
76.1 x 63.1cm (29 15/16 x 24 13/16in).
Footnotes
Provenance
By descent to Miss Blackett
Her husband, Sir Alfred Bower, and thence by descent to the present owner
Literature
A. Kidson, George Romney A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven and London, 2015, vol. I, p. 105, no. 179a
Alex Kidson mentions the present portrait as one of two autograph versions. The other being untraced, it is now difficult to judge which would have been the prime version. The high quality of its companion portrait of Mrs Burgoyne, however, would suggest the possibility that this and the former lot are in fact the prime versions.
Burgoyne is known to have sat for Romney between 1779 and 1782. Kidson believes that Burgoyne's sporadic visits to Romney's studio may be those of a growing confidant; Burgoyne later bought Romney's Emma as Saint Cecilia and a visit to Cavendish Square as late as May 1791 is recorded. Montagu Burgoyne and his wife, Elizabeth, are said to have been put forward as claimants of the Great Dunmow Flitch Trials of bacon awarded to happily married couples every four years.
