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DS1985-935
Portrait Miniature of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort (1744-1803)
DS1985-935

Portrait Miniature of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort (1744-1803)

Date1767
Attributed to Ozias Humphry (1742-1810)
OriginEngland, London
MediumWatercolor on ivory
DimensionsIvory Primary Support: 1 15/16 x 1 11/16in. (4.9 x 4.3cm); Composition: 1 9/16 x 1 5/16in. (4 x 3.3cm); and Framed (including hanging ring): 2 1/2 x 1 7/8in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1985-149,1
DescriptionA miniature, unfinished, bust-length portrait of a man turned 3/4 to the left. He wears a fawn-colored coat, a red waistcoat, and a white neck cloth. His gray hair is curled over his ears, swept back at the top, and presumably gathered in a queue at the back. His eyes are pale brown or hazel (perhaps conflicting with the bluer eyes shown in another portrait of the subject 1990-74; can this be explained by the fact that the miniature is unfinished?) The background is an overall dark gray.
When purchased at auction 27 March 1985, this image was group-framed with 1985-289, -290, -291, -292, and -293. It was later singled out and framed individually in a plain, oval, gilt metal alloy frame whose source is undocumented.
Label TextThe subject was the only nephew, longtime ward, and principal legatee of Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt (1717-1770), Governor of the colony of Virginia from October 1768 until his death in office October 15, 1770. The 5th Duke of Beaufort never came to Virginia but, following his uncle's death, he corresponded extensively with the trustees of Botetourt's estate. Beaufort generously gave the colony his late uncle's state coach and his portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte, painted by Allan Ramsay, and he offered to erect a monument to Botetourt in the chapel of the College of William and Mary. He directed that Botetourt's private and public papers, personal accessories and jewelry, three pipes of Madeira, and all books, maps, plate, china, and linen be shipped to him, asking that the remainder of the estate "be disposed of to the best advantage."
Beaufort was twenty-three and had not yet inherited Botetourt's estate when he sat in London for this miniature portrait by Ozias Humphry. For unknown reasons, the artist left both it and another very similar likeness of the subject unfinished. The other miniature remained in the artist's studio, being inherited by the artist's natural son, William Upcott, upon the artist's death in 1810. Conceivably Colonial Williamsburg's miniature shared that early history.
InscribedA piece of cardstock inserted in the frame appears to have been adhered to the back of the ivory primary support originally (it remains behind the primary support but is now detached); it is inscribed in script in brown ink "Henry Somerset/Duke of Beaufort/1767 --" Above the preceding, in pencil, is the number "3".
ProvenanceOwnership prior to CWF's source is undocumented.
Because this miniature is not specifically described or illustrated in Williamson ("Bibliography"), it is unclear whether it was among the unfinished miniatures found in Humphry's studio at the time of his death and left, by his will, to his natural son, William Upcott, then left by Upcott to Charles Hampden Turner (see Williamson Chapter VI).