Completed Portraits: British 18th C 13 When was this portrait painted?

If anyone has ever doubted the merits of ArtUK's Art Detective mission, the attached clipping, from the South London Press of Saturday 30th June 1866, might always be worth bearing in mind.

No doubt the misattribution and/or misidentification problem persists, Kieran, as becomes increasingly clear with increasing familiarity with entries on ArtUK.

As for this picture, I'd say the boy looks younger, more like 8-12, despite the adult dress.

The painting of John Erskine attributed to Godfrey Kneller, as described and linked to above, shows him with all of the robes, badges, chain, pendant and plumed chapeau of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle. This Order was revived by Queen Anne, as its second sovereign, on the 31st December 1703. Sir John Erskine, as the 23rd, 11th or 6th Earl of Mar, depending on the date from which you start counting, was nominated to and invested in the order on the 10th August 1706, when his son Thomas would have been about one year old. In 1715 he was attainted and all of his honours became fortified, after which he fled to France.

The Kneller painting shows his son Thomas as a boy of about five or six years of age, dating that painting to c.1710. This discussion's painting shows a young man of about 10 years old, dating it to c.1715. Would Charles Jervas, or any other possible artist, have painted Thomas Erskine at any later date, given the bad fortune of his father in that fateful year?

Interestingly, there is no mention of Thomas Erskine or the Earl of Mar in Caroline Pegum's University of Birmingham Master of Philosophy thesis entitled 'The Artistic & Literary Career of Charles Jervas (c.1675 - 1739)'.

https://bit.ly/2MqQ8eN

Perhaps there is some reference to the painting in the 1739 published edition of "A Catalogue of the Most Valuable Collection of Pictures, Prints, and Drawings, Late of Charles Jarvis (sic) Esq., Deceased, Principal Painter to Their Majesties King George I and II: Which Will Begin to be Sold by Auction (by Order of the Executrix and Trustees), on Tuesday the 11th of March, 1739-40, at His Late Dwelling-house in Cleveland Court, St. James's....". Anyone with access to this publication might like to check if there is a listing of the painting therein.

Is the basis of the Jervas attribution known? I am not necessarily questioning it, but another possibility is Michael Dahl I. Compare the portrait under discussion to this Dahl picture, ca. 1704:

https://www.artuk.org/discover/artworks/henry-robartes-c-16951741-3rd-earl-of-radnor-as-a-boy-100715/view_as/grid/search/makers:michael-dahl-i-165616591743-99506/page/7

Note the use of the pinkish violet drapery around both children.

Here is similar drapery on another Dahl portrait:

https://www.artuk.org/discover/artworks/margaret-brownlow-16871710-176290/search/makers:michael-dahl-i-165616591743-99506/page/2

Actually, looking over the works of both Jervas and Dahl on ArtUK, there is significantly more frequent use of purely decorative if not extraneous drapery around male sitters by Dahl, including his self portrait:

https://www.artuk.org/discover/artworks/michael-dahl-155444/view_as/grid/search/makers:michael-dahl-i-165616591743-99506/page/1

We are asked, “When was this portrait painted?” My immediate reaction was 1720s but I don’t have a problem with the 1710s as suggested in this discussion.

As to the artist, I think the attribution to Charles Jervas has some credibility, despite the rather pedestrian quality of the portrait. The handling lacks Michael Dahl’s colour code and softness, it seems to me. Jervas was adept at giving his landscapes something of the poetic quality seen here, with greens and warm browns fading into the distance. If one has to make a comparison from the portraits attributed to Jervas on Art UK, then I would select Sharington Davenport (1708–1774) as a Boy, which also has very active enveloping drapery. John Campbell (1696–1782), 3rd Earl of Breadalbane, as a Child in Highland Costume, is another comparison.

Has the mauve cape just been added later? It appears ill at ease with the rest of the painting. The dog has a been painted quite well.

Hopefully this is a link to another painting by Dahl in which the landscape in the background is a bit similar.

https://www.lofty.com/products/manner-of-michael-dahl-swedish-1659-1743-portrait-of-a-lady-in-white-picking-flowers-three-quarter-length-1-1aqf6m

Sorry, the painting above may not be by Dahl but is listed in the manner of Dahl.

Returning to this after more than two years (and five years after the launch of the discussion), I stick with my earlier post (12/01/2022), summarised here.

DATE. We are asked, “When was this portrait painted?” My immediate reaction was 1720s but I don’t have a problem with the 1710s as suggested in this discussion. Say c.1715 as Kieran suggests (14/09/2018).

ARTIST. I think the attribution to Charles Jervas has some credibility, despite the rather pedestrian quality of the portrait. Jervas was adept at giving his landscapes something of the poetic quality seen here, with greens and warm browns fading into the distance. For comparisons with portraits attributed to Jervas on Art UK, see my earlier post.

Time to close this discussion?

Antonia Laurence-Allen, Regional Curator, National Trust for Scotland, has replied that she is happy with this summary and asks us to update and close the discussion.