John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon (1751-1838) Lord Chancellor

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

The original portrait by Thomas Lawrence, on which this print is based, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1828. It is now unclear whether that work is the c.1825 version now in a private collection or another version painted between 1824 and 1826 for George IV. A third version, painted by Lawrence’s studio assistants, of c.1828 is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Sir Thomas Lawrence was born in Bristol; the son of a supervisor of excise. In 1773 the family moved to Wiltshire to run a coaching inn but financial difficulties led them to move again to Bath, where Lawrence first worked as a portraitist. He may have had lessons from William Hoare, before enrolling at the Royal Academy schools in 1787. Aged 20, he received a royal commission for portraits of Queen Charlotte (1789-90) and Princess Amelia (1789). At 23 he replaced Reynolds as Painter-in-Ordinary and at 25, became a Royal Academician. Despite such success, he never escaped crippling debt. In 1815 he was knighted and commissioned to paint the Waterloo Chamber series of portraits. He replaced West as President of the Royal Academy in 1820.
George Thomas Doo was born in Southwark, London. Nothing is known of his parents or childhood. After visiting Parisian engraving schools, he set up his own academy in London. He studied engraving under C. T. Heath and took on a pupil, T. L. Grundy, before working for publisher F. G. Moon. In 1836 he was appointed Historical Painter in Ordinary to William IV. Queen Victoria renewed the appointment in 1842. In 1851 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. He later studied oil painting under French portraitist C. A. Suisse. Doo’s portraits of the 1850s were exhibited at the Royal Academy, of which he became a member in 1857, retiring in 1866. He later became President of the Artists’ Annuity Fund. He died aged 86, at his home in Surrey.

People

John, 1st Earl of Eldon Scott (1751 - 1838)

Places

Subjects

male portrait, 19th century costume, coat, cravat, judge, lawyer, Earl, Solicitor General, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Attorney General, Member of Parliament, Lord Chancellor

Materials & Techniques

engraving

Artist

Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769 - 1830)
George Thomas Doo (1800 - 1886)

Title

John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon (1751-1838) Lord Chancellor

Date

1827

Medium

Engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from F B Daniell, February 1971

GAC number

9076