Beschreibung:

DescriptionProperty from an Important British Private CollectionPeter TurnerelliBelfast 1772-1839 LondonIrish, dated 1813Bust of Henry Grattan (1746-1820)
marblesigned and dated: P. Turnerelli / Fecit / 1813. 57.5cm., 22⅝in. overallCondition reportoverall in very good condition with minor surface wear and dirt consistent with age. Some slight natural veining including to the top of the head. Some chips and abrasions noticeably to the socle on the back. A few minor dirt marks at the back.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.ProvenanceCharles Kinnaird, 8th Lord Kinnaird (1780–1826);
thence by family descent to the present ownersExhibitedEdinburgh, National Galleries of Scotland, (inv. no. NGL 055.89)Catalogue noteThe prime version of Turnerelli's portrait of the Irish politician Henry Grattan is in the National Portrait Gallery, London (inv. no. NPG 1341).
Born in Dublin, in 1746, Henry Grattan was a brilliant politician and orator, who, in his mid-thirties, backed by the Protestant Volunteer movement, declared an independent parliament for Ireland. “Grattan’s Parliament” did not last long however, and when rebellion broke out in 1798, he was blamed by conservatives for having stirred up resentment against the status quo. He opposed the Act of Union in 1800, but this did not prevent him from later sitting as a MP in London. However, while he continued his efforts on behalf of Ireland, his great days as a parliamentarian were over, and he died in 1820.
The present bust is likely to have been acquired by Grattan's contemporary Charles Kinnaird, 8th Lord Kinnaird. An important art collector and whig politician, Kinnaird was highly educated, having studied at Eton, and the universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge, Glasgow and Geneva. According to Millar, 'From that time until the death of his father in 1805 he voted consistently with the Foxite whigs, and rendered valuable aid to the party in the repeated attacks made upon the Addington ministry' (op. cit.). Kinnaird was an Italophile, who was in Venice in 1805 when he learned of his father's death. He was a prolific art collector who assembled one of the great Scottish collections of antique statuary and pictures. Many of his paintings, which included works by Rubens, Titian and Poussin, had come from the collection of Philippe Égalité, duc d'Orléans.
RELATED LITERATUREI. Roscoe, E. Hardy and M. G. Sullivan, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851, London, 2009, p. 1290, no. 51; Millar, A., & Matthew, H.  Kinnaird, Charles, eighth Lord Kinnaird of Inchture (1780–1826), politician and art collector. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 14 Jun. 2022, from https://www-oxforddnb-com.lonlib.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-15632.