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John Eld of Seighford Hall, Stafford
Thomas Gainsborough (English, 1727–1788)
about 1775
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Overall: 238.8 x 153 cm (94 x 60 1/4 in.)
Framed: 260.4 x 174 cm (102 1/2 x 68 1/2 in.)
Framed: 260.4 x 174 cm (102 1/2 x 68 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Special Painting Fund
Accession Number12.809
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
This painting emphasizes both Eld's self-confidence and his devotion to charity, an important characteristic for a gentleman of sensibility in the eighteenth century. Eld was a benefactor of the Staffordshire General Infirmary and holds plans for the new hospital. The inscription on the base of the pedestal indicates that the portrait was commissioned in honor of the sitter, presumably to mark the hospital's opening. Nearly one hundred subscribers contributed to the cost of the painting, and Eld himself made up the difference. The portrait hung in the hospital's boardroom until 1909.
InscriptionsLower right, on base of the pedestal: By the Command / And at the Expence / of the Subscribers
ProvenanceBy 1772, commissioned by the trustees of the Staffordshire General Infirmary, England [see note 1]; May 10, 1912, Staffordshire General Infirmary sale, Christie's London, lot 49, sold for 4000 guineas to M. Knoedler and Co., London (stock no. 12859) [see note 2]; 1912, sold by Knoedler to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 5, 1912)
NOTES:
[1] John Eld (b. 1704 - d. 1796) was a founder and benefactor to the Infirmary since its creation in 1765. The work was lent by the Staffordshire Infirmary to the Royal Academy in 1910 (no. 141) and Agnew's, London (no. 14). [2] Getty Provenance Index, M. Knoedler and Co. records, PI Record no. K-2222 (stock book 6, no. 12859, p. 29).
NOTES:
[1] John Eld (b. 1704 - d. 1796) was a founder and benefactor to the Infirmary since its creation in 1765. The work was lent by the Staffordshire Infirmary to the Royal Academy in 1910 (no. 141) and Agnew's, London (no. 14). [2] Getty Provenance Index, M. Knoedler and Co. records, PI Record no. K-2222 (stock book 6, no. 12859, p. 29).