Add Or 2556

Admiral Hughes, holding his three-cornered hat in his hand, stands facing Mrs Oakeley who wears a panniered dress and elaborate feathered head-dress.

Inscribed: ‘Admiral Hughs & Mrs. Oakeley. 64.’

Gouache; 10 by 7.5 ins.

Note: Admiral Sir Edward Hughes (1720?-94) was Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, from 1779 to 1783. Mrs Helena Oakeley was the wife of Charles Oakeley who served in the Madras civil service from 1767 to 1794 and, as Sir Charles Oakeley, became Governor of Madras from 1792 to 1794. Between 1781 and 1784 he was President of the Committee of the Assigned Revenue of the Nawab of Arcot. This painting may be based on a British caricature of the time current in Madras, exposing a scandal involving Mrs Oakeley and Admiral Hughes.

Another caricature in the same series (Collection Edwin Binney 3rd, Brookline, Mass.) shows Sir John Burgoyne (Commandant of the 23rd Light Dragoons) portrayed as a bear, and Lord Macartney (Governor and President of Fort St. George, 1781-85) as a green monkey, approaching a table at which General Stuart sits holding a violin, his wooden leg projecting in front of him. Admiral Hughes is seated behind General Stuart with Mrs Oakeley and Mrs Sydenham (wife of William Sydenham of the Madras Artillery). Since General Stuart (Commander-in-Chief at Madras 1782-83) lost his leg at the battle of Polore in August 1781, and Admiral Hughes left Madras in 1783, the two caricatures would have been topical in c.1782-83.