Circle of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A.

Sir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet (1874–1943), Nassau;

By inheritance to his nephew, Louis Oakes Hilton (1932-2013);

Thence by descent to the present collectors.

D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven 2000, vol. I, p. 255, cat. no. 944a (as a copy of the prime at Castle Howard). 

Frederick Howard (1748–1825), Viscount Morpeth, became the 5th Earl of Carlisle when he was ten years old, around the time of the present portrait. The Earl, who would become an important patron of contemporary artists and developed a close relationship with Reynolds, would sit to the artist on a number of occasions, including for the full-length portrait of 1769, now in the collection of the Tate, where he is wearing the robes and insignia of the Order of the Thistle.¹

The prime version of this charming portrait of the young Earl of Carlisle remains at Castle Howard. The present painting was once in the collection of Sir Harry Oakes, the entrepreneur and philanthropist. Oakes, who was American but became a British citizen, was given the title of Baronet by King George VI in 1939 as a recognition of his large charitable gifts in Britain, Canada, and the Bahamas, where he resided. Ultimately he is most remembered for his mysterious murder in 1943, an incident that remains unsolved and inspired a number of books and films.

¹ London, Tate, inv. no. T14646.