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artist or maker

Mortimer, John Hamilton (b.1740, d.1779)

previously attributed to Johann Zoffany (German, b.1733, d.1810)

Date

c 1770

dated stylistically

Place of production

London, England, United Kingdom

Medium

oil on canvas

Type of object

paintings

Accession number

787

Oil portrait of John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset and Mr Ralph Petley of Riverhead, with a dog by an urn at the edge of a wood. The 3rd Duke of Dorset is on the left. He stands next to a bay horse, resting his right arm on the saddle. He turns to his companion, with his left hand open in a gesture of communication. He wears a gold-trimmed black tricorn hat and blue jacket, as well as breeches, boots with spurs and gloves.

In the centre, is Ralph Petley. He is shown in three-quarter profile turned to the Duke. He rests his left hand on his sword hilt. He wears a tricorn hat, a red jacket over a white shirt, knee-length breeches, stockings and buckled shoes. A hunting dog sits to the right, with its head turned to the left.

To the right of the dog, there is a large rectangular stone pedestal covered in ivy, surmounted by a lidded classical urn. The urn has a tall gadrooned base, with a cable moulding and festoons above, with a relief of a crouching faun, kneeling nymph, a drunken Silenus and a crouching putto around the upper half. The handles have mascarons of Pan.

Behind the men, there are two trees, the leaves of which fill the upper part of the composition. Beneath the tree branches, there is a view of trees and open countryside with a stream in the centre midground. There is a rock between the two men.

Commentary

John Hamilton Mortimer, a painter, draughtsman and etcher, may have made this painting for Ralph Petley, the man in the centre of the composition. The man on the left is the 3rd Duke of Dorset.

The painting is similar in style and conception to Mortimer's 'Shooting Party at Cavenham Park Bury St Edmunds - Sir Simon le Blanc and nephews' (Norwich Castle). Mortimer painted portraits, but also paintings of Anglo-Saxon history and picturesque scenes of brigands. He was made president of the Society of Artists of Great Britain in 1774.

John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, was known for his love of women, gambling and sport, including cricket. There is no record of the painting in the Knole Sackville archive, indicating that it did not belong to the 3rd Duke. Ralph Petley's family owned the small manor of Hewat's or Hewit's in Kent. Ralph inherited the estate from his father Charles in 1765, a few years before this painting was made. It was probably commissioned by Petley. This suggestion is supported by the central placement of Petley, who is the focus of the composition. The background landscape is probably intended to represent his estate in Kent. The Duke's off-centre placement gives the impression that Petley has the upper hand, even though he was the Duke's inferior.

When this painting was acquired, probably by Alice de Rothschild, it was thought that this picture was by Johann Zoffany. This German artist came to England in 1760 and is known for similar conversation pieces. Alice de Rothschild's inventory shows that the painting hung in the Bachelors' Wing Corridor, along with other pictures of horses.

Phillippa Plock, 2012

Physical description

Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)

985 x 1245 - sight

Signature & date

not signed or dated

History

Provenance

Possibly commissioned by Ralph Petley (d. 1788), circa 1770; acquired by Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922) before 1906; inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); inherited by his wife Dorothy de Rothschild (b.1895, d.1988); bequeathed to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1988.

Collection

Waddesdon (National Trust)
Bequest of Dorothy de Rothschild, 1988

Bibliography

John Sunderland; John Hamilton Mortimer. His Life and Works. The Fifty-Second Volume of the Walpole Society. 1986; London; W.S. Maney & Son Ltd.; 1988; p. 139, no. 44; Dated c. 1770

Related files

- http://www.culturalmodes.norfolk.gov.uk/projects/nmaspub5.asp?page=item&itemId=NWHCM%20:%201950.181%20:%20F [stylistically related painting by Mortimer accessed 14 January 2010]

Other details

Subject person

John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, Sitter
Ralph Petley, Sitter

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