Lot 179: David Morier (Berne c. 1705-1770 London)

David Morier (Berne c. 1705-1770 London)
Equestrian portrait of Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765), in a scarlet military state coat with the ribbon of the Garter, with infantry troops in battle formation beyond
oil on canvas
50½ x 40¼ in. (128.4 x 102.3 cm.)

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN (LOTS 4, 179 AND 182)
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William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, was the son of King George II and his wife Caroline, daughter of Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Anspach. He entered the army shortly before the outbreak of the War of Austrian Succession, and between 1740 and 1757 he served as Colonel of the Coldstream Guards, 1st Foot Guards, and of the 15th Dragoons. He was promoted in 1743 to Lieutenant-General and was wounded at the Battle of Dettingen in the same year. He became Captain-General of the army (1744-45) and was in command at the battles of Fontenoy, where he was defeated by the French, and Culloden, where he successfully defeated the Jacobite rising. In the Seven Years War he signed a capitulation to the French, called the Convention of Kloster-Zeven, an act which led to his resignation of all military command.

Morier is principally known for small military equestrian portraits with battles or reviews in the background, including many of the Duke of Cumberland, his most significant patron, and several of George II, as well as depictions of soldiers, detailing their uniform (principally in the Royal Collection and at Wilton House, Wiltshire). Born in Bern, Switzerland, little is known of Morier's career before 1743, when he was introduced by Sir Everard Fawkener to William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, possibly in Germany where the Duke was on campaign. In 1746, Morier undertook a commission to commemorate the Duke's victory against the Jacobites, The Battle of Culloden (Royal Collection). In 1747, he accompanied his patron to the Low Countries, painting Royal Artillery in the Netherlands and a series of sixty pictures of the allied troops under the Duke's command (all of which are in The Royal Collection). In 1751, the first British uniform regulations were issued by royal warrant and Morier, made Limner to the duke with a salary of £100, embarked on further series, including the light dragoon regiments raised in 1759 and 1760. When the Duke of Cumberland died in 1765, his second home, Cranbourn Lodge, Berkshire, housed 106 of these paintings and only works by Morier hung in the picture gallery.