Portrait Of John Bagwell M.p. (1751-1816) C,1800

Portrait of John Bagwell M.P. (1751-1816) c.1800 Sir Martin Archer Shee (1769-1850) It is no wonder why the artist of this grand scale half-length portrait was President of the Royal Academy and included the royal family as clients of his highly successful practice. The large scale and the bright red scarlet cloth against the moody sky create a strong visual sense of drama. The double breasted and brass buttoned coat with button back lapels, dark mustard facings and stand collar are worn over a white linen shirt and black neckcloth. This is a uniform of the British Army. The tasselled silver epaulettes at the shoulder denote rank. The portrait depicts Colonel Right Honourable Colonel John Bagwell M.P. (1751-1816) of Marlfield, co. Tipperary, Cork. In 1774 the sitter married Mary Hare and the couple had four sons and four daughters. He was Colonel of the Tipperary Militia, which he raised, in 1793 to 1805, when he resigned in favour of his eldest son, William Bagwell (c.1776-1826), who was at first Lieutenant Commander of the County Tipperary militia in 1794, and then its Commander from 1805 to his death in 1850. Like so many Anglo-Irish families, the Bagwells claimed descent from a captain in the Cromwellian army who settled in Ireland in the 1650s probably from the Devon-Somerset area, where the name Bagwell is historically most common. The Irish Bagwell family were bankers at Clonmel (Tipperary) and the sitter was brought up in this tradition. He set out to use the wealth generated by the family bank to buy influence and social status in an unusually direct way, so that his career - and to a lesser extent that of his sons - is a textbook illustration of the venality and patronage of 18th century politics. He bought an estate at Marlfield and build a remarkably grand new house there which proclaimed his wealth and claims to social consideration. His key step, however, was to invest in properties which brought a controlling interest in some of the small local boroughs, and then to ensure his own election and that of his two eldest sons to parliament in 1799. The Government was keen to push through the union of Britain and Ireland in that parliamentary session, and needed to achieve a majority in the Irish House of Commons to achieve this. The vote was close, and the Government resorted to promising favours to shore up its vote, in the way of appointment to positions of influence or salaried posts (many of which were complete sinecures) for MPs, their families and friends. Bagwell and his sons agreed to support the Government in exchange for posts worth £9,000 a year. He supported the Irish militia augmentation bill, 16 Apr. 1804, and went on to support Pitt’s ministry, but expected patronage for his sons in return—a deanery for Richard, full-pay employment in the army for John and succession to his colonelcy of the county militia for the sitter in our portrait, William. The family’s seat was Marfield house, a classical Georgian Mansion built in the Palladian style. It is a wonderful example of Irish architectural excellence and significance with William Tinsley, one of Ireland’s finest architects, and Richard Turner, a highly regarded designer and manufacturer of Glass Houses or Orangeries, both commissioned works on the house and wider estate. Sir Martin Archer Shee (Dublin 1769 - Brighton 1850) was a portrait painter and occasional painter of historical figural subjects and portraits of actors. He studied in Dublin under Benjamin West (1781-83) and won all the premiums. He began with crayon portraits but had switched to oils before settling in London in 1788. There, he studied briefly at the Royal Academy Schools on the advice of Reynolds, and soon he ran a considerably fashionable practice as a society portrait painter and included the royal family as his clients. His career bridged the gap between the Regency portrait and the Victorian society portrait. He also wrote several poetical works. Apart from the sitter in our portrait, Shee is known to have painted the sitter’s son, William. Provenance:
Marlfield House, Clonmel, the seat of the Bagwell family; The Property of a Gentleman, Christies London 14 July 1994, lot 81, as Sir Martin Archer Shee Measurements: Height 140cm, Width 115cm framed (Height 55”, Width 45” framed)