Portrait of a British Naval Lieutenant
circa 1805

About the Item

'Portrait of British Naval Officer' is attributed to the British painter and engraver Daniel Orme (1766-c.1832) based on the scratched inscription verso, as well as its similarity to Orme’s known engraving oeuvre. The oil on tin portrait bears the scratched inscription “D. Orme” verso, which in the absence of contravening evidence as to the artist is significant in attributing the work to Orme. Katherine Coombs, Curator of Paintings at the Word & Image Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the writer of the Dictionary of National Biography article on Orme, states that Orme is “so obscure an artist that if his name is indeed scratched on the [tin] that seems good evidence for it being so.” Additionally, Orme’s stipple engravings of prominent naval figures in oval, including John Hunter in 1792, Horatio Nelson in 1798, among others at the National Portrait Gallery, London are consistent with the style and composition of the portrait. Roger Quarm, Curator of Paintings at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich notes that Orme’s “engraved portraits of naval officers tend to be oval”. Orme is known to have issued a series of engravings by subscription that included portraits of popular naval Admirals and Officers in 1797. Two oils in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, also demonstrate Orme’s execution of naval subject matter. The sitter has been identified as a lieutenant in the British Navy wearing the “full-dress uniform for the period 1787-1812,” according to Roger Quarm. Alfred Umhey has confirmed this identification of the sitter as a “lieutenant in the uniform pattern 1787-1795, which is however worn post that date.” The medal worn around the sitter’s neck has been identified as the Sultan’s Medal for Egypt issued in 1801, by both Quarm and Umhey. The Sultan’s Medal for Egypt or the Turkish Medal for Egypt was issued in 1801 to members of the British Army and Navy by Sultan Selim III in reward for distinguished service during the campaign of 1801 in which a joint British and Ottoman force expelled the French army from Egypt. Three or four sizes in gold of the medal were issued by rank to members of the Royal Navy and Army. The smallest medal was awarded to Naval Lieutenants and Subalterns. The obverse of the medal bears a crescent and eight pointed star, which is visible in the portrait, while the reverse bears the Sultan’s cipher and the date 1801. According to Umhey, 402 gold medals were issued to officers of the Royal Navy. The dating of the uniform to between 1787 and 1812 coupled with the Sultan’s Medal for Egypt having been issued in 1801, places the painting of the portrait between 1801 and 1812. Contrary to some reports of Orme’s death in 1802, according to the Dictionary of National Biography and the National Maritime Museum, Orme continued to work as a painter and engraver in London until 1814 when he moved back to Manchester, although he continued to exhibit regularly at the Royal Academy until 1827.

Attributed to:

Daniel Orme (1766 - 1802, British)

Creation Year:

circa 1805

Dimensions:

Height: 17.5 in (44.45 cm)Width: 14.5 in (36.83 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)

Medium:

Oil

Movement & Style:

Victorian

Period:

Early 19th Century