Collection search - General Sir William Howe

Record information – Brief
1
General Sir William Howe

Hierarchical level:

Item

Date:

ca. 1759

Reference:

Box number: MIN-085

Type of material:

Art

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

2834245

Context of this record:

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Sir William Howe fonds

General Sir William Howe
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Record information – Details
Date(s):

ca. 1759

Bilingual equivalent:

Click here

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

1 watercolour : watercolour with gum arabic on ivory ; image: 3.0 x 2.1 cm. (oval), case : 13.1 x 9.7 x 2.0 cm (rectangle).
Support 3.000 x 2.100 cm
Locket / case 3.500 x 2.500 cm

Language of material:

no language

Scope and content:

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Locket is placed in a red leather case, lined with green velvet. The case is embossed with gold lettering. Measurement of opened case: 13.2 x 18.5 cm. Colour transparency is of locket in opened case., This portrait miniature of William Howe is by an unknown artist, and it is thought he sat for the portrait when he was about thirty years old. Inside the case in which the portrait miniature is set, an inscription indicates that the miniature was formerly the property of his friend General Wolfe, and that it came from the house at Bath, occupied by Wolfe's sister. The inscription appears partially incorrect in that although Wolfe and Howe were friends, Wolfe did not have a sister, although his mother did live in Bath and Wolfe visited the house in 1757 and again in 1758 after serving at Louisbourg.

The miniature was dated by Sotheby's ca. 1770, but research shows it probably dates to 1760 or earlier since by 1760 the army forbade the wearing of lace.

Sotheby's London originally assigned the work to the miniaturist Patrick McMoreland, and dated it ca. 1770. Research conducted at the London Office of the National Archives suggests doubt about this attribution. McMoreland (also Patrick John M'Morland) exhibited miniatures at the Royal Academy from 1776-1779, and portraits until 1782. The costume points to a pre-1760 work.
Additional name(s):

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Artist: Unknown Artist 342

Depicted: Howe, William Howe, Viscount, 1729-1814

Howe, William Howe, Viscount, 1729-1814
Finding aid:

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(Paper) Accession file 1986-19 (90: Open)

Additional information:

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Availability of other formats note:

Colour transparency available

Exhibitions note:

Exhibition title: Small Wonders: A National Archives of Canada Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures; Exhibition of Reproductions. Curators: Martha Marleau, National Archives of Canada, cat. no.: 5a. Further venue: National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario: 1995.02.13-1995.06.26., Exhibition title: I Know You by Heart: Portrait Miniatures / Je vous connais par coeur : portraits en miniature. Curator: Johanna Mizgala. Library and Archives Canada Exhibition. New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick; 2012.09.20 - 2012.12.31., Further venue: Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; 2013.03.22 -2013.06.02.

Container note(s):

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C-096946 : recto in locket

Varying form of title:

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William Howe, 5th Viscount, ca. 1759
Subject heading:

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Portraits

Miniature
Source:

Private

Other accession no.:

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1986-019 PIC
00001
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Conditions of access:

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Graphic (art)

[Consultation90 Open]
Physical access through an art archivist. No restrictions on use for reproduction or publication

Box [1986-019]

[Consultation 90 Open]

MIN-085 Item no. assigned by LAC 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Copy negative [1986-019]

[Consultation 90 Open]

C-096946 Item no. assigned by LAC 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

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Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1986-19-1
Copyright: Expired

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