Lot 45: GEORGE WILLISON 1741-1797

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

PORTRAIT OF EYLES IRWIN (1751-1817)

measurements note
77 by 63.5 cm., 30¼ by 24¾ in.

half length, wearing a mauve fur-trimmed cloak

oil on canvas, framed as an oval

PROVENANCE

Anon. sale, Christie's, 28th November 1969, lot 254 bt. Perman;
Anon. sale, Christie's, 8th January 1971, lot 2, bt. Steven

LITERATURE

Mildred Archer, India and British Portraiture 1770-1825, 1979, p.106, fig.61

NOTE

The sitter was the son of Captain James Irwin of Roscommon, Ireland, and his wife, Sarah, widow of Henry Palmer. In 1778 he married Honor, daughter of the Revd William Brooke of Longford, by whom he had three sons and two daughters.

Irwin had a successful career in The East India Company, but a number of his experiences in the Company prompted him to question their policies, and he was sympathetic to the Indian Muslim community. He devoted his retirement to literary pursuits, and was an accomplished author, publishing a number of books on subjects as varied as The Origins of the Game of Chess, as well as accounts of his journeys between London and India. This portrait was painted c.1776 in Madras while he was serving in the East India Company.