Lot 226: Gawen Hamilton (c.1697-1737)

Group portrait of the Porten family taking tea in a lavish interior, with a red velvet curtain in the foreground and a garden seen from an open door beyond
oil on canvas
49 3/4 x 40 1/4 in. (126.4 x 102.2 cm.)

London, Royal Academy, Winter, 1888, Exhibition of the Works of the Old Masters, no.45 (as by Hogarth).
London, Tate Gallery, Manners & Morals: Hogarth and British Painting 1700-1760, 15 October - 3 January 1988, no.62.

Dictionary of National Biography, London, 1909, XVI, p.167 under Stanier Porten.

Presumably painted for James Porten, and by descent to his son Sir Stanier Porten, and by family descent to the Rev. Thomas Burningham by 1888 (when lent to the R.A.)
Mrs A.M. Onslow; Christie's, London, 24 July 1953, lot 20, as by Hogarth (900 guineas to Bellesi).
with Mortimer Brandt Gallery, New York, from whom bought by the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts.

PROPERTY OF THE SPRINGFIELD MUSEUMS, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES (LOTS 226-231)

James Porten (1665-1750), a merchant of Hugenot descent, is shown seated on the far left of the composition. He married Mary Allen and lived in an old redbrick house next to Putney Bridge, London. Their only son, Stanier (bap.1716-d.1789), can be seen standing next to his father, holding out a letter to him. Stanier Porten followed a diplomatic career. He was a diplomat at the court of Naples until 1760 when he became consul-general in Madrid. From 1766-1782 he was based in the French Court, as under-secretary to Lord Rochford. He was knighted on 5 June 1772, appointed keeper of the State Papers at Whitehall in 1774, and from 1782 to 1787 was a commissioner of the customs. The woman behind Stanier is probably the eldest daughter of the family, Catherine (d. 1786), who established a successful boarding-house in London for Westminster School. The lady seated at the card table is probably the middle Porten daughter, who later married Mr. Darrel of Richmond, holding out a cup towards her father. The youngest daughter Judith is seated on the far right of the composition. She married Edward Gibbon of Buriton, Hampshire, on 3 June 1736, so it is probable that she is seated opposite her fiancé at the card table - and the present work could, in fact, have been commissioned to celebrate their marriage or engagement.
The theatricality of the setting is indicated by the red velvet curtain, and the unusually grand interior is probably aspirational rather than real. The family coat-of-arms can be seen between two horns of plenty in the cornice at the top of the composition, and the two putti above the doorway symbolise prudence (holding the mirror) and temperance (pouring a jug of water).

Gawen Hamilton was born in Scotland circa 1697, but was based in London from circa 1730, where he specialised in conversation pieces and small full-length portraits. He was a member of the St Luke's Club, and one of his most well known works is a Conversation of Virtuosi at the Kings Armes (1734-5; National Portrait Gallery, London) - a group portrait of the most famous artists in London at that time, including Michael Dahl, John Wootton, William Kent, James Gibbs, George Vertue and John Michael Rysbrack, but excluding his main rival, William Hogarth.

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.