Lord Amherst

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Lord Amherst

Artist Sir Thomas Lawrence (British, 1769-1830)

Place of OriginEngland

Date1821

Dimensions93 x 57 1/2 in. (236 x 146 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1964.32

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 31

Label TextIn 1816 Baron William Pitt Amherst (1773–1857) led a diplomatic mission to China to negotiate better trading terms for the British East India Company. This grand portrait by Thomas Lawrence, the leading English portraitist of the day, shows Amherst standing before the Canton harbor and the trading warehouses of Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States. The book near his hand is the 1817 publication of the journal of his diplomatic journey. Amherst’s mission was a failure. He signaled that he would refuse to kowtow (kòu tóu)—the traditional act of reverence before the Chinese emperor, which involved kneeling and bowing low to the ground—unless the Chinese officials would show similar deference to a portrait of the British king. Affronted, Emperor Jiaqing sent Amherst and his embassy home without meeting with them. Back at home Amherst was admired for his actions, which were seen as upholding British honor. This portrait, in fact, was commissioned to hang in the British East India Company’s office in Canton. The full-length format, imposing column, and Amherst’s determined expression and official ambassadorial robes all express solemn ceremony, resolve, and dignity.Published ReferencesGower, R. S., Sir Thomas Lawrence, London, 1900, p. 104.

Armstrong, W., Lawrence, London, 1913, p. 108.

Garlick, Kenneth, Sir Thomas Lawrence, London, 1954, p. 24.

Garlick, Kenneth, "A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings and Pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence," Walpole Society XXXIX, 1962-64, p. 18.

"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 7, no. 7, Winter 1964, repr. p. 102.

Wittmann, Otto, "Treasures at Toledo, Ohio," Apollo, vol. LXXXI, no. 35, Jan. 1965, pp. 28-35, repr. p. 34.

"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 2, 1966, p. 167, repr. p. 177.

A Guide to the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, repr.

"Quality the Criterion," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, repr. (col.) pl. III, p. 417.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, p. 69.

The Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 93-4, pl. 329, color pl. X.

Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America, New York, 1979, p. 194.

Garlick, Kenneth, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Oxford, 1989, no. 24 (b), pp. 135-6, repr.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 214, repr. (col.). Harrison, Henrietta, Perils of Interpreting, Princeton, 2021, fig. 16.1 repr. p. 209.