Lot 157: Jean-Antoine Laurent (French, 1763-1832)

Sir Charles Hugh Lowther (1803-1894), three-quarter length, wearing blue tailcoat, cream waistcoat, frilled white chemise, grey trousers and black cravat held with red jewelled stickpin, a gold seal hangs from a pink ribbon at his waist, he holds a top hat in his right hand and stick and white glove in his begloved left hand
signed on obverse Laurent, brass mounted wood frame with outer veneered border, labelled on reverse Sir Charles Lowthers [sic]/ signed Laurent
Rectangular, 137mm. (5 3/8ins.) high

Charles married in May 1834, Isabella, eldest daughter of the Rev. Robert Morehead DD, Rector of Easington. In 1868, Charles succeeded his unmarried brother John Henry as 3rd Baronet. Charles and Isabella had one son, George William (1837-90) who predeceased his father, His son, Charles Bingham Lowther, succeeded his grandfather as 4th Baronet on his death in 1894.
Charles was a victim of Scarlet Fever, which left him blind from infancy. In 1821, his mother, Elizabeth purchased him books using the Haüy and Guillie embossed reading system, which had been printed in France. He was probably the first person in England to use embossed literature and in 1834, he printed the Gospel of St. Matthew using the Haüy system. In 1856 he met William Moon, who had been left blind by the same disease. Moon was in the process of developing an embossed reading system specifically designed for the English Language. Lowther who became a life-long friend of Moon, provided him with funding to set up a printing press and workshop in Brighton. Thanks to Lowther's financial and emotional support, The Moon Printing Works operated on the same premises until 1960, producing books and magazines in 471 different languages.