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Lot 6

Lemuel Francis Abbott
(Leicestershire circa 1760-1803 London)
Portrait of Warren Hastings (1732-1818), half-length, in a blue coat

6 December 2017, 15:30 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £27,500 inc. premium

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Lemuel Francis Abbott (Leicestershire circa 1760-1803 London)

Portrait of Warren Hastings (1732-1818), half-length, in a blue coat
oil on canvas
76.6 x 63.5cm (30 3/16 x 25in).

Footnotes

Provenance
Thomas George Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook (1826-1904), Viceroy of India (1872-1876)
Francis George Baring, 2nd Earl of Northbrook (1850-1929)
Stratton Park Sale, Gudgeon and Sons, 27 November 1929, lot 497, ill p.26, bt £483 (as School of Hoppner)
With Robert Dunthorne & Sons, Ltd., Rembrandt Gallery, London
Mrs William Emerson, (1869-1957) Cambridge, MA, USA
With Vose Galleries, Boston, MA, USA
Private Corporate Collection, New York, USA

Exhibited
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, 1932-7, 1941

Literature
The Times, 5 December 1929 p.17
Sir Arthur Knapp, A Catalogue of the known portraits of Warren Hastings (1732-1818), First Governor General of Bengal, 1952, no. 25, pp 8-9

Engraved
William Bromley, 1797

Warren Hastings was the first and most famous of the British Governor Generals of India. He dominated Indian affairs from 1772 to 1785 and, on his return to England, was impeached and finally acquitted following a sensational and historic 7-year trial.

After the trial, Hastings rewarded his loyal allies and close acquaintances with gifts of portraits. Sittings to Abbott are recorded in Hastings's diary on 10 August, 7 October and 15 December 1796. In this very well-observed example, Abbott captures the intelligence, sensitivity, and resilience of Hastings. This portrait was purchased in India by 1st Earl of Northbrook, Viceroy of India, and hung in the dining room at Stratton Park, his home in Hampshire.

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