(Irish, 1739–1808)

Portrait of Francis, Lord Rawdon-Hastings, in the uniform of a flank company in the 63rd Regiment of Foot, circa 1777, unsigned, pastel, 9 1/4 x 7 3/4 in; period gilt wood frame, 12-1/8 x 10-3/4 in.

Note: This pastel was likely drawn in March or April during Lord Rawdon’s brief return home to Dublin to see his family during his leave in England. The distinctive uniform may be that of a flank company in the 63rd Regiment of Foot, to which Lord Rawdon been promoted as a Captain in July 1776. Officers of the 63rd Foot wore “deep green” facings of the same shade seen in the pastel, ats well as silver laced buttonholes in pairs. The second epaulette is also indicative of a flank company, though the “Brandenburg” style loops on a single breasted coat appear to be a fashion of Rawdon’s own design, which he carried over to his command of his own regiment, the Volunteers of Ireland, from 1778 onwards. This rare and distinctive uniform is otherwise known only from an engraving of “Francis Lord Rawdon” published in the Westminster Magazine, 31 July 1781, prior to his return from America. Rawdon’s appearance in this pastel portrait is consistent with his relative youth in 1777 at the age of 22, not yet worn out by the rigors of the four years of campaigning to follow, obliging him to return home from ill health in 1781. It is a very appealing and personal portrait, showing Lord Rawdon in his natural brown hair as opposed to his hair powdered white (for formal dress occasions or at court with the King) as shown in the 1786 Gilbert Stuart portrait (lot ). As such, this portrait represents a rare depiction of a notable participant painted during the course of the American War of Independence, rather than afterward, as was most often the case for all sides of the conflict.