Arthur William Devis.
English ( b.1762 - d.1822 ).
Portrait Of Charlotte Shore, Daughter Of The Governor General Of India, The 1st Lord Teignmouth.
Oil On Canvas.
Oval Image size 26.2 inches x 20.5 inches ( 66.5cm x 62cm )
Frame size 34.6 inches x 28.7 inches ( 88cm x 73cm )
Available for sale from Big Sky Fine Art in the English county of Dorset, this original oil painting is by Arthur William Devis and dates from around 1792 to 1795.
This painting was created when the sitter and the artist were both in India, the sitter''s father being the Governor General of India from 1793 to 1798.
The painting is presented and supplied in a 19th century decorative frame. The painted surfaces and the frame have benefitted from some restoration, cleaning and conservation, which was performed on our instruction, supervision and approval. The canvas is lined.
This antique painting is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is supplied re
...ady to hang and display.
Provenance: By descent in the family of the sitter. Exhibited: Preston, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, 2000, Arthur William Devis, no.52.
Charlotte was the eldest child of the first Baron Teignmouth, a title that was created in 1798 for Sir John Shore. The title became extinct in 1981 on the death of the seventh Baron. This portrait was almost certainly painted by Devis in India at a time when the sitter’s father was Governor General. As such, this is a historically significant piece.
John Shore was an anti-slavery campaigner, born in London but brought up in Romford. In 1769 he went to work in Bengal where he was one of the first to learn a number of local languages. In 1785 he returned to England and on 14 February 1786 he married Charlotte, the only daughter of James Cornish, a medical practitioner at Teignmouth. The couple’s first child, Charlotte, the subject of this painting, was born the following year, on January 26, 1787. The family quickly returned to India, where John Shore served as Governor from 1793 to 1798. John and his wife had three sons and six daughters over the following fifteen years.
Sir John Shore left Calcutta for the final time in March 1798, sailing back to England with his wife and young family. The family settled in Clapham and Sir John became the first president of the British and Foreign Bible Society. He was involved with the Clapham Sect and their anti-slavery campaign.
This adorable original oil on canvas depicts Charlotte, the eldest child and first daughter of the first Lord Teignmouth, aged around five to seven years old. (On the basis that the family returned to England in 1798 when Charlotte would have been 11 years old, this painting was almost certainly created in India, during the time when her father was the Governor General of India. We also know that the artist was painting portraits in India the decade up to 1795, when he returned to England.)
Charlotte is an attractive child, with thick dark brown curly hair framing her beautiful angelic features. She has fair skin, rosy cheeks and rosebud lips. Her dark eyes are wide and engaging. She has the sweetest expression on her face and we feel that she is kind and good natured. She is wearing a simple white gown, typical of the day, with a low neckline and three- quarter length sleeves and a pale blue sash around her waist.
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Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1109381
Dateline of this antique is 1700
Height is 88cm (34.6inches)Width is 73cm (28.7inches)Depth is 0cm (0.0inches)
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