Sold....portrait of Matthew Brickdale M.p., 1812, by Henry Singleton

Oil on canvas in good giltwood period frame.

An excellent portrait of the Regency period; the sitter, Matthew Brickdale, painted in 1812 at the age of 78, looks out at the viewer with confidence and assurance. Matthew bears his years well, living to the age of 96.

His left arm and hand rest upon a leather bound tome, with a bookmark protuding, which seems to inscribed 'First Charters'.

Born on 30 April 1734, son of John Brickdale, a successful Bristol draper. He inherited the enormous sum of £100,000 on his father's death in 1765. Retiring from business, Matthew devoted himself to politics. He stood as Member of Parliament for Bristol on two occasions, firstly between 1768 and 1774, and then from 1780 until 1790. He was elected Mayor of Bristol in 1791, but declined the office. Matthew was Deputy Lieutenant for Gloucester, Somerset and Devon; he died on the 8 September 1831.

Matthew had married Elizabeth Smith and had a son, John Brickdale (see portrait stock no. 8574).

His diaries, now held at the Archives Hub, were written between 1770 and 1774, and deal primarily with domestic, national, and international political issues and news, including events and politics of Bristol, shipping, government, and the colonies, in particular America. They are an invaluable reference of the period.

As he rose socially, Matthew Brickdale bought the manors of East and West Stoodleigh about the year 1779.

Stoodleigh Manor, Matthew's home, lay in the hundred of Witheridge and in the deanery of South Molton, about seven miles from Tiverton.

Mr. Brickdale's son John sold these estates, in 1819, to John Nicholas Fazakerly, Esq., M. P.

The ancient house was demolished in 1881 and replaced by the Victorian Gothic Stoodleigh Court, now an hotel.

HENRY SINGLETON (1766 - 1839) was born in London, England on 19 October 1766. In 1839 he was buried in the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

He was a member of an artistic family. He was raised by his uncle William Singleton (d. 1793), after his father died when he was younger than two years old. William Singleton, who studied under the tutelage of Ozias Humphry, painted portraits and miniatures. Another uncle, Joseph Singleton, exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1773 and 1788. Henry Singleton’s sisters Maria and Sarah (later Macklarinan) were miniaturists who exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1808 to 1820 and from 1787 to 1806 respectively.

Singleton exhibited at the Royal Academy, between 1784 and 1839, approximately 300 works, a large proportion of which were portraits. His works were also exhibited at the British Institution from 1806 and at the Society of British Artists from 1824 until his death in 1839.

From the age of sixteen, Henry Singleton worked as a professional portraitist. He attended the Royal Academy Schools from the age of seventeen and won the silver medal in 1784. His painting from John Dryden’s ode Alexander’s Feast won the gold medal in 1788. In 1793, he was commissioned by the Royal Academy to paint a group portrait of forty of the academicians.

His portrait work was always in demand... Lord Nelson, Admiral Vernon, Lord Howe, John 'Mad Jack' Fuller,Sir W. Chambers, James Northcote, Thomas Sandby, Richard Cosway and Johann Zoffany are among his portrait sitters.

In 1807 he married his cousin, William Singleton’s only daughter; the mariage was of short duration as she died in 1811.

Henry Singleton’s works are currently in the collections of: The British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery (London), the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, the Ulster Museum, and the Brighton Art Gallery.

SIZE: 40.5 x 36 inches inc. frame

PROVENANCE: by family descent.

Inscription, verso on the old relining 'Matthew Brickdale. Aged 78. Painted in 1812. Copied from the original canvas.'