Lot 16: Arthur William Devis (1762-1822)

Portrait of Judge Suetonius Grant Heatly and Temperance Heatly with their Indian servants, in an interior in Calcutta
oil on canvas
39 1/2 x 45 in. (100.3 x 114.3 cm.)

Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Toledo, The British Council, 1957-58, British Paintings in the Eighteenth Century, no. 86 (as by Zoffany).

Lady Victoria Manners and C.G. Williamson, John Zoffany R.A.; His Life and Works, London, 1920, pp. 111-112 & 180-181.
Sacheverell Sitwell, Conversation pieces, London, 1937, pp. 32-33 & 95, no. 35.
M. Archer, India and British Portraiture 1770-1825, London, 1979, p. 245, no. 159.
A. Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon, London, 2001, p. 57, no. 18.

G.H. Tod Heatly, 1906.
Captain C.D.M. Blunt, Adderbury Manor, Banbury.
Miss J.H. Blunt.
with Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1954.

The Property of the Springfield Museums, Massachussetts, United States

Devis was in India between 1784 and 1795. During his stay in Calcutta, he built up an distinguished reputation as a portrait painter. He executed individual portraits of East India Company servants in a variety of different poses, often relaxing in their own domestic environment, much as gentlemen of leisure would have liked to be painted in England. This picture shows the ease in which the two Americans felt at home in their foreign home. It is characteristic of the artist to portray the Indian servants with a graceful dignity and reflects the interest he showed in their customs and costumes.

Suetonius Grant Heatly (1751-1793) and his sister Temperance, came of a Loyalist family from Newport, Rhode Island. During the Revolution, Heatly left America and joined the East India Company in 1766 where he was Magistrate of the Province of Dana and then took up a position as judge. His sister Temperance joined him in India and the portrait was probably painted between 1785-1786 when he was almost certainly living in Calcutta. Temperance was later to marry Captain William Green, R.N. and to return with him to America where they settled in Utica, New York. Their sister Mary Heatly married Captain James Tod and the picture was recorded as being in the possession of their great-grand nephew G.H. Tod Heatly in 1906. For much of the 20th Century the picture was attributed to John Zoffany and it was not until 1979 that it was generally agreed to be by Arthur William Devis and published by Mildred Archer in India and British Portraiture 1770-1825 as a work by his hand.

In this picture, Heatly's major domo, a chobdar (or silver pole-bearer) is seen reporting to his master while another servant holds his hookah. The interior is typical of Calcutta of the period, western in conception and style but designed to accomodate the tropical climate. Rooms were considerably larger than in England and with high ceilings and as many windows and doors as possible to encourage the circulation of air. During the day in the hot season, shutters were kept closed and as in this picture, windows were made to open into the room to admit air through the shutters. Carpets were used in the grandest houses and being impractical in the heat, sometimes only in the cool season. Curtains were limited as they harboured insects and hindered ventilation. As the condition of pictures were affected by the climate, walls were usually left bare and unadorned. To reduce the effect of emptiness, wainscots, dados and friezes were painted onto the walls. Few portraits or conversation pieces show pictures or looking glasses as part of the decoration. Often, as in this interior, the walls were decorated with wall lights imported from Europe with glass shades. Furniture was also kept to the minimum due to the heat and threat of being destroyed by white ants. The chair in this picture features in another portrait by Devis of Robert Grant and his wife Elizabeth and follows a late 18th century Hepplewhite design, typical of the type made up in India for the expatriate community.

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