Now here’s a puzzle.
This portrait appeared as the frontispiece of a book published in 1911 ‘Nelson in England’ by E. Hallam Moorhouse. The caption reads ‘Horatio Nelson when Captain of the Agamemnon’.
I had never seen this portrait before and was intrigued. The list of illustrations says: ‘From the portrait by an unknown artist in Norwich Castle Museum.’
I contacted the museum and one of the assistant curators replied that the caption is wrong as the accession register for 1865 at the museum records the painting as ‘Painted in 1781 when Capt of the Albemarle (21 guns)’.[Roger Knight says ‘Albemarle, 28 guns.] She added that ‘the general consensus over the years is that the picture is not of Nelson and that ‘the inscription’ [presumably on the picture] was added later.’
It was given to the museum by Mr E.H. St Quinton of Norwich who was the Hon. Sec. Of Norwich Castle Museum. He had been bequeathed it by his brother Captain James St Quinton.
Captain St Quinton, as we know from the biog. supplied by PhiloNauticus, had died in 1865, so Mr St Quinton must have passed it on almost immediately after inheriting it on his brother’s death. We also know that Captain St Quinton was at Trafalgar and later served in ‘Agamemnon,’ though not under Nelson. So there is a Nelsonian connection, but no conclusive evidence that Captain St Quinton ever actually saw Nelson in the flesh.
However, there is a manuscript note on the reverse of the painting: ‘Jan 19th 1848 – I this day shewed this portrait of Nelson to his fifth cousin, Mrs Tayler, at 86. She instantly said: ‘It is a likeness of My Uncle Nelson’ then immediately corrected herself ‘Why, it is my Lord himself.’ Robert Hull M.D.’
So – the ‘experts’ say this is not Nelson – the ‘experts’ being a Commander Robinson, Naval Correspondent of the Times, who, the curator told me ‘had written a few books.’ A little research revealed that he was the author of amongst other works, ‘With Roberts to the Transvaal’ but did not appear to have written anything on portraiture. Nevertheless, he declared it inauthentic because a) the subject is in civilian clothes and b) there is no reference to it in any Nelson correspondence.
The National Portrait Gallery experts, according to the Museum, also say it is unlikely to be Nelson, though no reasons were given.
The Rigaud portrait, finished after his return from the West Indies, was altered to thin down Nelson’s rounded boyish face which had been ravaged by sickness. However, he recovered well. The fuller face of this portrait might simply confirm the good progress of his convalescence over a few weeks or months to the ‘rounded face’ described by Mahan. The portrait could well have been painted by a jobbing itinerant portrait artist of which there were many in Bath and London, both of which he visited at this time. Nelson need not necessarily have commissioned the picture – his uncle, William Suckling, with whom he stayed in Kentish Town, might have done so.
Moreover, the portrait has some resemblances to the features we know; Nelson prior to service on the Albemarle, and on half-pay, may well have worn civilian clothes. Captain St Quinton’s ownership provides a local connection and the likeness was recognised by a relative. (Tony has established that St Quinton was a Norfolk man, born in Norwich)
‘Experts’ have been known to make misattributions.
So – could this be Nelson?
Now here’s a puzzle.
This portrait appeared as the frontispiece of a book published in 1911 ‘Nelson in England’ by E. Hallam Moorhouse. The caption reads ‘Horatio Nelson when Captain of the Agamemnon’.
I had never seen this portrait before and was intrigued. The list of illustrations says: ‘From the portrait by an unknown artist in Norwich Castle Museum.’
I contacted the museum and one of the assistant curators replied that the caption is wrong as the accession register for 1865 at the museum records the painting as ‘Painted in 1781 when Capt of the Albemarle (21 guns)’.[Roger Knight says ‘Albemarle, 28 guns.] She added that ‘the general consensus over the years is that the picture is not of Nelson and that ‘the inscription’ [presumably on the picture] was added later.’
It was given to the museum by Mr E.H. St Quinton of Norwich who was the Hon. Sec. Of Norwich Castle Museum. He had been bequeathed it by his brother Captain James St Quinton.
Captain St Quinton, as we know from the biog. supplied by Philonauticus, had died in 1865, so Mr St Quinton must have passed it on almost immediately after inheriting it on his brother’s death. We also know that Captain St Quinton was at Trafalgar and served on ‘Agamemnon,’ though not under Nelson. So there is a Nelsonian connection, but no conclusive evidence that Captain St Quinton ever actually saw Nelson in the flesh.
However, there is a manuscript note on the reverse of the painting: ‘Jan 19th 1848 – I this day shewed this portrait of Nelson to his fifth cousin, Mrs Tayler, at 86. She instantly said: ‘It is a likeness of My Uncle Nelson’ then immediately corrected herself ‘Why, it is my Lord himself.’ Robert Hull M.D.’
So – the ‘experts’ say this is not Nelson – the ‘experts’ being a Commander Robinson, Naval Correspondent of the Times, who, the curator told me ‘had written a few books.’ A little research revealed that he was the author of amongst other works, ‘With Roberts to the Transvaal’ but did not appear to have written anything on portraiture. Nevertheless, he declared it inauthentic because a) the subject is in civilian clothes and b) there is no reference to it in any Nelson correspondence.
The National Portrait Gallery experts, according to the Museum, also say it is unlikely to be Nelson, though no reasons were given.
The Rigaud portrait, finished after his return from the West Indies, was altered to thin down Nelson’s rounded boyish face which had been ravaged by sickness. However, he recovered well. The fuller face of this portrait might simply confirm the good progress of his convalescence over a few weeks or months to the ‘rounded face’ described by Mahan. The portrait has all the hallmarks of a jobbing itinerant portrait artist of which there were many in Bath and London, both of which he visited at this time. Nelson need not necessarily have commissioned the picture – his uncle, William Suckling, with whom he stayed in Kentish Town, might have done so.
Moreover, the portrait has some resemblances to the features we know; Nelson prior to service on the Albemarle, and on half-pay, may well have worn civilian clothes. Captain St Quinton’s ownership provides a local connection and the likeness was recognised by a relative. (Tony has established that St Quinton was a Norfolk man, born in Norwich)
‘Experts’ have been known to make misattributions.
So – could this be Nelson?