Foster 638

John Mowbray in his office; c.1790.

Mowbray, wearing a black velvet suit, cream embroidered waistcoat, grey silk stockings, and white cravat, is seated at a desk piled with account books. An Indian messenger in pink dress, white turban and orange shawl stands behind with a paper. Mowbray’s banian or money agent in a white dhoti and wrap with a green-spotted cloth over his head, holding an account book and keys, is talking to Mowbray. In the background is an iron box. A red and blue striped curtain covers the door and a map hangs on the wall inscribed with the names of Tibet and Bihar.

Oil on canvas; 41 by 32 ins (104 by 81 cms)

Presented by Mrs. J. Bull, 1938

Literature: M. Archer (1979), 204-33, pl.136

Exhibited: Royal Academy, ‘British Portraits’, 1956-57 (349); Arts Council, ‘Johann Zoffany,’ 1960-61 (10); Museum and Art Gallery, Brighton, ‘The British in India’, 1973 (E 3); National Portrait Gallery, ‘The Raj’, 1990, no.120.

The picture descended from the sitter to W.T. Hall, C.S.I., father of the donor. Mowbray was Mrs. Bull’s great-great-grandfather. His daughter married James Traill Hall, QC in 1818 and the picture may have been brought back from India by her prior to her marriage. Like so many portraits made in India this painting was formerly attributed to Zoffany. At the time of the National Portrait Gallery Exhibition, ‘Zoffany’, in 1976, this attribution was discussed by a number of scholars who decided the attribution could not be upheld. Stylistically it appears to be the work of Hickey.

Mowbray worked for the mercantile firm of Graham, Mowbray and Skirrow, Calcutta, who suspended payment in 1790. Mowbray and his partner, Robert Graham, went and lived in Chinsurah and died about fifteen months later from drinking spirits (see W. Hickey, vol.4, 57-8).