ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS HICKEY (1741 - 1824) - 18TH CENTURY BRITISH PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN.

Stylish and sensitively rendered 18th century oval oil on copper portrait of an elegant gentleman, attributed to Thomas Hickey (c.1741-1824).

The handsome sitter is depicted half length seated at a table upon which is a leather bound book and an open letter presumably addressed to the sitter himself a Mr Hill of Tewkesbury.

From under his cropped raven locks and dark brows, his wide eyes fix us with the most soft and pleasing of expressions. Mr Hill wears the highly fashionable clothing of elegant gentlemen of the period, namely a blue jacket and silver waistcoat which he wears over a high necker shirt. In his lapel he wears a nosegay of roses and jasmine.

For such a comparatively small work, it is crammed with delicious details including a finely worked table top, chippendale splat back chair and behind the sitter a panelled door with a brass lock.

This fine portrait is in an excellent state of conservation and is presented ready to hang and enjoy in its original fine carved and gilded, oval 18th century frame.

Thomas Hickey (c.1741-1824) was one of the great adventurers in the history of Irish art, Thomas Hickey was a popular and successful portrait artist, who practised portraiture in Ireland, the UK, Portugal, India and China, but never achieved significant acclaim in his native country during his lifetime. He was born in Dublin, the son of a sweet-maker, and studied drawing and painting at the Dublin Society schools, where he gained numerous prizes in his early teens. His early works were largely portraits executed in chalk, but following a study trip to Italy in the early 1760s, he began exhibiting a range of oil paintings.

Depressed by his failure to win patrons and develop his art in Dublin, he went to London and became a regular contributor to exhibitions of the Royal Academy. After a short spell in Bath, he embarked in 1780 on a ship to India which was then captured by the French - who were at war with Britain - and Hickey ended up in Lisbon searching for a boat to London. While waiting, portrait commissions flooded in, causing him to remain in Portugal for a couple of years.

In 1784 he finally made it to India, establishing himself in a fine quarter of Calcutta where he remained for 7 years. During this time he painted the portraits of many of the local English hierarchy, and wrote a book entitled 'The History of Painting and Sculpture'. After returning to England in 1791, he signed up as the official portraitist on Lord Macartney's expedition to China 1792-4, which he followed with a visit to Dublin before returning to India in 1798. During this second spell in the Orient, Hickey painted an outstanding series of chalk portraits of over 30 British Army officers and numerous Indian soldiers. A celebrated and witty conversationalist, he settled finally in Madras where he died at the age of 83. Today, he is considered to be one of the major Irish artists of the eighteenth century.

Higher resolution images on request. Worldwide shipping available.

Sheet: 8” x 6 3/8" / 19,5cm x 16cm.  Framed: 10" x  8" / 25cm x 21cm.

Price: £2400