Poppy Harvey-Jones
Head of Sale
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
Lot 84
Attributed to John Opie RA(Trevellas 1761-1807 London)Portrait of the young Sir Joseph Banks, half-length, wearing a black coat, holding a book, leaning on a globe which shows a map of Australia
5 July 2017, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £10,000 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Old Master Paintings specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Attributed to John Opie RA (Trevellas 1761-1807 London)
Portrait of the young Sir Joseph Banks, half-length, wearing a black coat, holding a book, leaning on a globe which shows a map of Australia
oil on canvas
76.1 x 63.2cm (29 15/16 x 24 7/8in).
oil on canvas
76.1 x 63.2cm (29 15/16 x 24 7/8in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Private collection, UK, by whom offered
Sale, Bonhams, London, 7 July 1999, lot 22, (as English School, circa 1790 for £14,500)
Although the costume which dates from the latter part of the 18th century would be anachronistic for Sir Joseph Banks to be depicted at this age (Banks having been born in 1743), the artist appears to have based the present work on the 1757 portrait of Banks as a boy which has been attributed alternatively to Lemuel Francis Abbott or to Johann Zoffany, in which the sitter holds a botanical illustration and is seated beside a globe (fig. 1). With the benefit of hindsight the artist has depicted the mainland of Australia (or 'New Holland') on the globe, as Reynolds had depicted the illustrious botanist and explorer in 1773 with a globe that made reference to his trip to Iceland in the previous year. It was during his first voyage of 1769-1771 that Banks accompanied Captain James Cook in circumnavigating the globe in the Endeavour, mapping the East coast of Australia.