Sir George Hayter (1792-18710 Portrait of James Talbot

Sir George Hayter (1792-18710

Portrait of James Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot de Malahide (1805-1883), MP for Athlone

Oil and pencil on board

33.5 x 29.2cm; 13¼ x 11½in, framed as an oval

Provenance:

Christie, Manson & Woos, Catalogue of the remaining pictures and original sketches... of the late Sire George Hayter, 19 April 1871, lot 488

This is one of Sir George Hayter's oil sketches produced in preparation for his famous The House of Commons, 1833, which today hangs in the National Portrait Gallery (inv. no. NPG 54). The monumental work depicts the very first meeting of the new parliament following the passing of the Great Reform Act. Hayter spent a decade compiling preparatory head sketches of 375 of the total 658 MPs depicted.

James Talbot was an Anglo-Irish politician and amateur archaeologist. He spent three years as a Whig MP, and as a member of the House of Lords served in the administrations of Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell. He was President of the Royal Archaeological Institute, President of the Royal Irish Academy, Fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.