Mather Brown Art

Mather Brown (1761-1831) Portrait of Major-General John Robinson (1757-1819) Oil on canvas; held in a period giltwood frame Provenance: Denston Hall, Suffolk and by descent Literature: Suffolk Portraits, mss by Edmund Farrer, 1921. Vol. 5 (West Supp), entry 230, no.4 – NPG Heinz archive. John Robinson was a third generation professional soldier, whose father was a Lt.-Colonel. He joined the army in 1773 and was Captain by the time he married Rebecca Clive, daughter of “Clive of India” in March 1782. This family connection helped him immeasurably in his political ambitions as a seat in Parliament became available whilst his brother-in-law Edward, Lord Clive was in India. The portrait presented here was completed around 1805 when Robinson was a Major-General. This is confirmed by evidence that surrounds an incomplete portrait by George Romney of his late wife Rebecca. Unfinished at the time of Romney’s death, the painting remained unpaid for and unclaimed. On 25th March 1805, William Saunders, a framer, who had been looking after the work wrote to the artist’s son John Romney...