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2003-61, Portrait
Miniature Portrait of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 or 1732-1809)
2003-61, Portrait

Miniature Portrait of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 or 1732-1809)

DateProbably 1809
OriginEngland, Kent
MediumWatercolor on ivory
DimensionsSight: 3 1/4" x 2 1/2"; Framed: 6 3/4" x 5 15/16"
Credit LinePartial gift of a descendant of the subject in memory of Henry Alexander Murray; acquisition partially funded by John A. Hyman and Betty C. Leviner
Object number2003-61
DescriptionA 3/4-length portrait of a blue-eyed, stocky, elderly man, half turned to the right and sitting slumped in a solid-back, Gothic-style, solid-arm chair; the front stiles are in the form of engaged columns; the chair bears an earl's coronet on its crest, with the letter "D" just below it. It is not upholstered. The man is bald on the top of his head, with ear-length white hair curled under at the sides. He wears a white shirt under a green, blue, and black belted plaid; the tops of his plaid, calf-length hose are visible. Both hands rest on the chair's arms. The near (proper right) hand is curled in a near-fist, the fingers of the far (proper left) hand more open. On a draped table behind the subject at right is a rounded black (or possibly blue-painted) leather bonnet having a furry (probably black bearskin) strip over the top, a black cockade, two black plumes, a red feather, and a red-and-white checked band.

A (seemingly generic) escutcheon hangs on the wall above the bonnet, and a series of pointed Gothic arches can be seen in the background beyond the seated subject.

The image is set in a flat, japanned, papier mache frame set with cast, copper alloy metal mounts consisting of an earl's coronet at the top, above the image, and a bellflower repeat on the metal aperture surround. A cast metal medallion bearing the script letter "D" is set below the image. Metals conservator Dave Blanchfield believes this frame's metal mounts were all once gilded, though there is little trace of gold now left. He also observes that, although the coronet on this frame could have come from the same mold as the coronet on 2003-58, that on this frame is "more neatly" finished than the other, i.e., with more careful attention to detail.

Label TextImages of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, are rare. A full-length oil portrait painted in 1765 by Sir Joshua Reynolds (and now owned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery) remains the best known likeness of the last royal governor of the colony of Virginia.
CWF's miniature and two others (compositionally virtually identical to it) are known, one of them being CWF accession number 2003-61. These are the only non-Reynolds depictions of the 4th Earl recorded to date. Probably one of CWF's miniatures was the original from which multiples were later derived --- but which is uncertain. The more painstaking craftsmanship of 2003-58 suggests that it was the original. Yet the lengthier, more detailed inscription on the reverse of 2003-61 argues for its having been the predecessor. (That inscription indicates that the original image was created in February 1809--the very month that Dunmore died near Ramsgate, Isle of Thanet, Kent, England).










InscribedOrnamenting the face of the frame is a cast metal disk bearing the script letter "D".

In ink in script on the lower section of the dust cover on the reverse is, "D[uche]ss of Sussex's/Picture of her Beloved/Father John Murray/Earl of Dunmore/Taken in Febry 1809".

Above the immediately preceding inscription, in ink in script in a later hand, is, "Property of Alexandrine A. Murray/1870". Below this---in still another hand--- in ink in block letters, is, "(daughter of Alexander Murray &/aunt of Henry A. Murray" [sic, i.e., parenthesis is not closed]. The latter of these two inscriptions is believed to have been made by Mrs. Henry Alexander Murray (nee Fannie Babcock)(1858-1940). See letter in file from William Calderhead dated 11/30/2005.

In ink in block letters on a paper hang tag attached to the brass hanging ring on the frame (and photographically recorded in place there at least as early as 1978) is, "John Murray--4th Earl of Dunmore,/which title is an offshoot of/the Dukes of Atholl. Last Royal/Governor of Virginia, where his/daughter Virginia was born. The Earl died in March [sic] 1809. This miniature/as marked on back belonged to/his daughter, the Duchess of Sessex [latter word later corrected to 'Sussex']".
ProvenanceSee "Inscriptions." The inscription at the top on the reverse of the miniature cannot be totally reconciled with the spotty genealogical data gleaned to date from several sources. That is, the inscription has been taken to mean that Alexandrina [or Alexandrine] A. Murray was both the daughter of Alexander Murray and the aunt of Henry A. Murray; no Alexandrina/Alexandrine has yet been found that meets both criteria.

See the genealogical chart in the file, composed partly of info provided by the Rev. Michael H. Murray (b. 1922), CWF's "Source," and partly of info from several other genealogical sources, including Burke's Peerage and The Complete Peerage. The Rev. Michael H. Murray is a direct, 5th generation descendant of the portrait subject.