Lot 28: Tilly Kettle (1735-1786) GENTLEMAN, HALF LENGTH, WEARING RED SLASHED VAN DYCK COSTUME

Tilly Kettle (1735-1786)
GENTLEMAN, HALF LENGTH, WEARING RED SLASHED VAN DYCK COSTUME
oil on canvas
with label on reverse relating to previous owner
h:29.25  w:23.75 in.

Provenance:
By descent in the Willes family;
Sotheby's, 24 November 1999, lot 52;
Private collection

Tilly Kettle - best-known for his Indian portraits - was a London born English artist who visited Ireland in the late 18th century. Kettle painted the face of architect James Gandon (1743-1823) c.1786-c.1796 in a large portrait in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI.1783). The remainder of the picture was completed by William Cuming, an accomplished Irish artist, who depicted Gandon on the roof of the Parliament House (now the Bank of Ireland) in College Green, Dublin holding architectural plans, including those of the Four Courts.

Kettle first entered the professional portrait arena in the 1750s following his studies with William Shipley in the Strand. He was the first prominent English portrait painter to operate in India. He first sailed there with the British East India Company in 1768 and painted several works in various parts of the country. In 1776 he returned to London and married, however imprudent financial decisions and a decline in clientele provoked a return to India in 1786. This journey was undertaken overland. His last recorded portrait was at Aleppo.