Images(2)

Miniature Portrait of Charles, 1st Marquis Cornwallis (1738-1805)

Date1792-1795 probably

Attributed to John Smart (1742/1743-1811)

OriginAsia, India

MediumWatercolor on ivory in copper alloy (once gilded) case

DimensionsSight: 2 5/8 x 2 1/8in. (6.7 x 5.4cm); and Framed (Oval, incl. hanging loop at top): 3 7/16 x 2 1/2in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2006-83

DescriptionA bust-length portrait of a blue-eyed officer turned 3/4 to the right, his hands not shown. His head is turned slightly toward the viewer, his gaze on the viewer. He wears a red coat with dark blue facings and silver embroidered buttonholes. On his near shoulder he wears an elaborate, gold-tasseled epaulette. He wears a white ruffled shirt, white waistcoat, and white neck cloth. His white-powdered hair is curled up over the ears and pulled into a queue at the back. The background is gray and white suggestive of a cloudy sky.
The oval, copper alloy, once-gilded case in which the miniature was received is of the period but slighly over-sized and is thought to be a replacement. It is very plain and glass-backed, with a turned-over loop for suspension at the top.
Label TextThe image corresponds closely to three miniature portraits of Cornwallis executed by John Smart, all of them signed and dated 1792. Although Colonial Williamsburg's portrait is unsigned, the rendering of the face is stylistically attributable to Smart; the remainder of the composition appears to have been completed by one of the artist's studio assistants.

Americans best know Cornwallis as the British commander who surrendered his forces to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, thereby effectively ending the Revolutionary War. Few acknowledge his outstanding tactical capabilities or the imminence of his post-Yorktown military career. In 1786, Cornwallis was appointed Governor-General of India, and he enjoyed great success there, both as an administrator and a soldier. The prime version among Smart's three signed miniature portraits was done in Madras following Cornwallis's critical defeat of the sultan of Mysore; in recognition, he was granted the title of Marquis.

Smart was born near Norwich and spent most of his life in England, but from 1785 to 1795, he worked in India, where he portrayed many distinguished sitters. Most of these were Britons serving abroad, but he also recorded the visages of Muhammad Ali, the Nawab of Arcot, and his family.
Smart's work illustrates the high level of quality achieved by British miniaturists during the second half of the eighteenth century, and the portraits created during his decade in India are among his finest.

InscribedA hand-printed, dark brown ink inscription on a piece of paper placed behind the image, visible through the rear glass, reads: "Major Charles Edmonstone/youngest brother of/Sir Archibald Edmonstone/of Dunrenth 1st Bart." Below the preceding, on a self-adhesive label in dark blue ink and in a different hand, is hand-printed: "Painted by/John Smart/1741-1812."
ProvenancePer Christie's catalogue, the miniature is of "direct family descent"