(Edinburgh 1713–1784 Dover) Portrait of the Admiral George Townshend, 5th son of Charles – 2nd Viscount of Townshend, inscribed in the upper right corner: “Admiral the Honble/George Townshend/5th son of Charles/2nd Vist Townshend”, oil on canvas, 76.5 x 63.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
European private collection

The attribution of the present painting has been confirmed by Professor Brian Allen (written communication, 12th April 2012) to whom we are grateful.

The present portrait may be compared to three signed and dated portraits by Allan Ramsay: (Bonham’s, Edinburgh, 31 August 2011, lot 1057), (Christie’s Edinburgh, 02 May 1991, lot 491) and (Sotheby’s London, 26 March 2004, lot 17).

The sitter in the portrait, identified by the inscription in the upper right corner, is George Townshend, who entered the navy in 1729. He was appointed Commodor to operate at the Mediterranean coast of Italy in 1745, the period during which the present painting was most probably executed. Later Townsend commanded ships off the coast of the Netherlands and in the Scheldte. From 1748 to 1752 he was Commander-in-Chief in Jamaica, and in 1755 he was promoted to Rear-Admiral before becoming Admiral of the White Fleet in 1765.

Allan Ramsay was born in Edinburgh and from the age of twenty studied in London under the Swedish painter Hans Hysing and at the St. Martin’s Lane Academy. In 1736 he made his first visit to Rome and Naples to study with Pompeo Batoni and Francesco Solimena. After his return to Edinburgh in 1738 he attracted attention with his full-length portrait of the Duke of Argyll, later used on the banknotes of the Royal Bank of Scotland. In 1739 the painter moved to London, where he executed portraits of many important members of the royal society, as for example the young King George III and Queen Charlotte. Ramsay was appointed principal painter ordinary to the King in 1761.

We are grateful to Professor Brian Allen of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art for confirming the attribution (written communication, 12 April 2012) and for dating the portrait to the beginning of the 1740s. We are also grateful to Dr. Kalle O. Lundahl for assisting in the cataloguing of the present lot.