* Unknown (British 19C?) Duke of Wellington {1897} Loc? [PA]

Unknown artist (British, 19^th century?)
Duke of Wellington
Oil on canvas, c. 61.0 x 48.3 cm
Purchased, 1897
Unidentified, present location unknown

According to the 1905 NGV catalogue, this portrait of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington (1759-1852) was bought in Melbourne for 10 guineas. Still listed in NGV 1943 (cat.628), it no longer appears to be in the collection.

Also in 1943, a considerably smaller portrait of the Duke of Wellington, on panel, was bought for the NGV through the Felton Bequest; initially believed to be by Thomas Lawrence, that work is now regarded as a copy (see reproduction below).

[comparative photo: portrait of the Duke of Wellington, after Lawrence (NGV, Felton Bequest, 1943)]

Refs.

AR 1897, p.28; NGV 1905, p.142 (V.Buvelot Gallery, 6^th bay, no. 13; size given as 24 x 19 inches) [£10/10] 

Cf. NGV 1943, cat.628 (as by an anonymous artist)

For the smaller work reproduced here (oil on wood panel, 30.5 x 23.9 cm; acc.no.1208-4), see http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/4124/, and Hoff (1995), p.185 (as “after Lawrence,” noting that Lawrence’s original of 1822 is in a private collection)