Johann Zoffany R.A.

Commissioned by the sitter, Claud Alexander (1752-1809);
thence by descent to the present owner

Lady V. Manners and G. C. Williamson, John Zoffany R.A.; His Life and Works, London 1920, pp. 111, 172 (illus.);
M. Archer, India and British Portraiture 1770-1825, London 1797, pp. 242-243, 456-457, pl. 165 (as by A. W. Devis);
B. F. Tobin, Picturing Imperial Britain: Colonial subjects in eighteenth-century British painting, Durham and London 1999, p. 262 no. 37

The following condition report is provided by Rebecca Gregg who is an external expert and not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas appears in relatively good condition. The overall tension is slack although all the keys are present. The stretcher bar marks have become more prominent and there are distinct corner draws in the upper two corners. There is a distinct dent to the right of centre in the lower quadrant, below which are a series of planar deformations along the lower edge. The paint layers are in a good condition. There is a network of raised craqulure present across the painting which appears stable and the overall adhesion between the paint and ground layers and the support appears good. There are two minor relatively recent damages to the paint layers located at the lower edge and some minor damage associated with framing, including losses at each of the upper corners. There are areas of over-paint present across the painting; this does appear to be excessive in some areas, for example on the left shoulder of the central figure, across the knees and in the lower left corner. There does appear to have been some significant glazing around the head of the central figure, this is difficult to assess purely in ultra violet as it could also be a result of re-working the area. There is a significantly discoloured varnish layer present, in the left side this has become chipped and abraded. There is also a relatively thick layer of surface dirt and fly spotting present. The inscriptions at the lower edge of the painting appear to have been applied above the varnish layer. To speak to a specialist about this lot please contact Julian Gascoigne on +44 (0)207 293 5482, or at julian.gascoigne@sothebys.com, or Emmeline Hallmark on 44 (0)207 293 5407, or at emmeline.hallmark@sothebys.com.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This impressive portrait was painted within a few months of Zoffany's arrival in Calcutta on 15^th September 1783. It was commissioned by Claud Alexander, the corpulent figure who stands in the centre of the composition between his brother Boyd on the right and their Indian servant.

Boyd left India in February 1784 and the portrait must have been completed later that year as a letter survives from Claud dated 8^th December 1784 (fig. 2) in which he writes to his relatives in Scotland: 'By the same Ship [Southampton] I have Sent my picture which I request you will get out of the India House as soon as possible as it is a capital painting & I should be sorry if it got any damages, as it was painted by Zoffany, a member of the academy, I imagine it will be exempted from Duty'.

"My friend Baron Zoffani who is I believe without dispute the greatest Painter that ever visited India" - these words of introduction were
written by Lord Macartney, Governer of Madras, on 23^rd August 1783 to the Irish lawyer William Dunkin of Calcutta. Zoffany was fifty years old when, in 1782, he applied for permission to go to India for three years. His decision to try his fortune there was prompted by his fall from grace with his patron George III and Queen Caroline for whom he had recently painted the celebrated Tribuna in Italy and by a dramatic drop in the number of commissions received as a result of his six year absence from England. His trip to India was approved on 23^rd July 1783 and on 8^th March he embarked on the Lord Macartney. In late July the ship reached Madras and Zoffany made good use of his five week stay there to paint four portraits. On 26^th August, three days after the date of Macartney's letter, he set off for Calcutta, reaching the city on 15^th September.

News of the arrival of such a celebrated artist had clearly preceded him and, no sooner had Zoffany settled in a fine mansion built by the architect Thomas Lyon, than commissions began to come in almost at once. His first eminent sitter was the Chief Justice, Sir Elijah Impey who was due to leave India in early December – his fine, full length portrait is now in the Calcutta High Court, while a half length portrait is in a private collection. Even more important was an introduction to Warren Hastings, the Governor-General, whose wife Maria was due to leave for England in January 1784. Zoffany painted a striking full length portrait of the Governor General's wife (Victoria Memorial, Calcutta) as well as a portrait of her with her husband attended by an Indian ayah (Victoria Memorial, Calcutta). It was a period of astonishing productiveness, the artist seemingly inspired by the enormous demand for works by someone whom Macartney had decribed as 'the greatest Painter that ever visited India'!

Zoffany's portrait of the two Alexander brothers was another fruit of this amazing burst of energy and enthusiasm. The sitters, Claud and Boyd, were sons of Claud Alexander of Newton and his wife Joanna, daughter of Alexander Cunninghame. Claud served as East India Company servant in Bengal for fifteen years, from July 1771 to March 1786. He started in Calcutta as an assistant in the Accounts Office and later, under Warren Hastings's administration, rose to the post of Senior Merchant, and Military Paymaster General for the East India Company in Bengal. His brother Boyd joined him in India in 1776, and though he was not a covenanted civil servant he served as Deputy Paymaster to the garrisons at Patna and dealt in saltpetre and other commodities.

Claud Alexander commissioned his agents and family members in Scotland to find him a suitable property where he could live on his eventual return from India. They negotiated on his behalf the purchase of Ballochmyle in Ayrshire which had been owned by Sir John Whitefoord who was forced to sell the estate after the Ayr Bank Crash in June 1772. According to family tradition the letter which Claud holds in this portrait, dated Glasgow, 22^nd December 1782, refers to this acquisition. On his return to Scotland he set up a cotton industry based in Catrine, a village close to the property on the banks of the River Ayr. He collaborated in this venture with David Dale and was notable for his local munificence, building a church, a school and an ale house (which he hoped would discourage the consumption of spirits). He also sent back to India for seeds and plants which he intended to grow in Scotland. The family were friends of Robert Burns who sent his poem 'The Lass of Ballochmyle' to Claud's younger sister Wilhelmina. Claud married Helenora Maxwell by whom he had ten children.

We acknowledge the assistance of Viccy Coltman (University of Edinburgh) in writing this entry. Dr. Coltman is working on Claud and Boyd Alexander as part of a study of Scots in India in the 1770s and 1780s.