Newly discovered portrait of unknown naval officer by Sir Henry Raeburn sells for £80,000

A newly discovered portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn, RA (1756 – 1823), of an unknown naval officer has sold for £80,000 (hammer price) at Cheffins in Cambridge.

The portrait went under the hammer as part of The Fine Sale on 24^th June and was purchased by a London-based trade buyer. The previously unrecorded painting is now the seventh most expensive portrait by Raeburn to have sold to date.

From a Norfolk-based private collection, the 88.5 x 67cm picture is believed to have been acquired at Brown & Co of Chester in 1954 by Major William Martin Archdale, the great uncle of the seller.

Patricia Cross, Head of Old Master, 18^th and 19^th Century European Paintings comments; “This is a long lost masterpiece by Raeburn of an enigmatic naval officer of the Napoleonic era whose identity has been lost due to the portrait’s elusive history. Further to extensive research, we believe the sitter may have been Admiral Sir Houston Stewart (1791-1875) on the basis of his resemblance to an earlier portrait, also painted by Raeburn circa 1805. It is a mystery how a Raeburn of this calibre has slipped through the net of all scholars and went unrecorded in all past Raeburn literature. This is a significant addition to Raeburn’s oeuvre and will be included in David Mackie’s Raeburn, A Critical Catalogue, which will be available in the coming weeks. With its vigorous brushwork and wonderful sensitivity, this portrait illustrates how military portraits were an area in which Raeburn truly excelled. It shows all the hallmarks of his mature style, capturing the sitter’s features with subtle and delicate modelling. Its compositional format and the sitter’s expression makes it comparable to Raeburn’s portrait of Lieutenant Colonel George Allan of the 16^th Hussars which sold for $93,750 at Christie’s in 2020.”

For more information, contact The Fine Art Department on 01223 213343, [email protected]

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