NATHANIEL HONE (1718-1784)

A Portrait of Charles Lee Lewes

London, exhibited 1775

Oil on canvas

71 x 61 cm

Charles Lewes (1740-1803) was an actor and singer who specialised in comic roles.

He holds the music of a popular drinking song, The Wine Vault, made more suggestive here by the way some words are obscured.  The informal pose, with Lewes leaning over the back of a chair as if engaging us in conversation, is in keeping with the music.

Nathaniel Hone was a Dublin-born portrait and miniature painter best known for his satirical portrait of Joshua Reynolds, president of the Royal Academy.

Purchased 1959 (No.59.6)