About this lot

Description

Circle of Sir Joshua Reynolds, RA, FRS, FRSA (British, 1723-1792) Portrait of Alexander Nowell (1761-1842) of Underley, Westmorland, half-length, in a scarlet military coat and bicorn oil on canvas 74 x 62cm (29 x 24in)
Provenance: Mawley Hall, Shropshire Other Notes: Alexander Nowell was of the Gawthorp Hall branch of the family and a descendant thereby of the Lancashire Royalist, Roger Nowell of Rede, who raised a regiment for the protection of Charles I. Nowell entered the East India Company’s army shortly after his father’s death, but failed to rise above the rank of ensign and resigned in October 1792 to become an indigo manufacturer at Tirhut. Three months later he married Maria Theresa, the widow of the Company’s former chief engineer, Henry Watson. Nowell returned to England with a fortune in 1805, bought a house in Wimpole Street and at the General Election of 1806 contested Liskeard in Cornwall unsuccessfully with another East India Company candidate, Joseph Childs. In February 1808 he paid £10,560 for the Underley estate, then worth £170 a year. Nowell later bought the neighbouring estates of Lowfields, Deansbiggin, Mansergh Hall and Belle View and built a Gothic mansion and racing stables, which were financed from his inheritance under the will of his wife.
Oil on canvas which has been lined. There is a thick layer of dust on the reverse of the canvas. The canvas tension is adequate and the picture is in plane. The painting has an even network of age cracks, noticeable in the sitter's face. There is active flaking on a small scale along the lower edge and left hand corner. There are other localised losses and scuffs across the surface. At the lower right corner is an old damage which has been crudely filled but is fairly well matched in terms of colour. The varnish is yellowed and semi-matte. The frame is in a good condition.

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