Name: GEORGE CHINNERY (LONDON 1774-1852 MACAO)
Brand: Portrait of James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855), in Turkish dress, smoking a hookah
Price: 8000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

GEORGE CHINNERY (LONDON 1774-1852 MACAO)
Portrait of James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855), in Turkish dress, smoking a hookah
signed and dated 'Geo:Chinnery - April 25. 1820' (lower right) and with the sitter's inscription 'Memorandum/ The spirited and masterly sketch on the opposite page/ was taken of me while dressed in Turkish garments made at Baghdad, during my stay there in the year 1816. It is from/ the pencil of my excellent & esteemed friend, and accomplished/ Artist - George Chinnery Esq. and was done for the great picture/ of my dear Nieces, Marianne & Louisa - and the ultimate/ inspection of Mrs Buckingham the children - as a faithful/ delineation of costume. This little occupation was only one of many equally agreeable ones, with which we passed the/ evening, enjoying the music of the young ladies - the agreeable/ conversation of my friend Col. Young - and the inexhaustible/ fund of humour and good nature of Chinnery's never ending mirth/ & wit. My the evening of the 25th of April - thus happily/ passed - be long remembered - those who shared its pleasures - those/ who were longed for to participated in them - be as happy every/ evening of their lives./ J.S. Buckingham' (verso)
pencil with fixative on paper
7³⁄₈ x 9³⁄₈ in. (18.7 x 23.8 cm.)

The sitter and by descent.

London, Martyn Gregory, Merchants & Mariners, cat. 98, 2018, no. 19.

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Lot Essay

James Silk Buckingham, born at Flushing, near Falmouth, went to sea as a child, and was on his third voyage in 1797 at the age of eleven when he was taken prisoner by the French. He spent much of his early life sailing the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and between 1813 and 1818 travelled extensively in Egypt, Palestine and Persia. In October 1818 he settled in Calcutta and founded the Calcutta Journal, a forthright publication whose criticisms of the East India Company led to Buckingham's expulsion from India. On his return to London he published extensive accounts of his travels.
Buckingham's description of the origin of this drawing is recorded in the text of the catalogue entry.