John Coutts (18th Century)
1
Photograph © The University of Edinburgh
Artist | Unknown LC; Allan Ramsay (Scottish b.1713, d.1784) LC |
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Title | John Coutts |
Date | 18th Century |
Period | 18th century; 1700s; 1710s; 1720s; 1730s; 1740s; 1750s; 1760s; 1770s; 1780s; 1790s; 1800s |
Description | Half length.The sitter faces to the left and takes up a pose often favoured by Ramsay for his objects, hat held in the left hand and so placed as to define the depth within the picture. He wears a fine white wig, blue velvet jacket and white cravat. The body is contained within a painted oval against a plain background over which soft shadows play. Although much rubbed and worn, particularly in the face which is far less well preserved than the jacket, the picture has some quality thought it cannot be regarded as either an original portrait by Ramsay or his studio. The prime original of the portrait now in private hands, was executed in the 1740s and a second version by the artist himself of 1759, and known as 'The Huntly House' version, after which our copy was painted, is in the City Art Centre in Edinburgh. There is an engraving after the original by McArdell. John Coutts was the eldest son of Patrick Coutts, by his wife Christian Smith. Patrick, who moved from Montrose to Edinburgh in 1719, had been a tradesmen, and his osn became a commission agent and a dealer in grain but as he acquired capital he moved on to become a negotiator of bills, a businessh which the banks had not been taken up. In 1730 he entered the Town Council and was Lord Provost from 1742 to 1744. He 'sustained the dignity at his own expense, conducting the banquetings in his own dwelling', and was said to have been the first Provost to do so. In 1745, when the Jacobite army approached Edinburgh, ex-Provost Coutts headed a deputation to attempt negotiation with the rebels and it was the opening of the gates to readmit his carriage on his return from this fruitless expedition which enabled a party of Jacobites to rush in and seize the city. Coutts was a great encourager of the fine arts, but it was said that his conviviality undermined his health. He died at Nola, near Naples. He was accused in the first version of Maitland's 'History of Edinburgh' of hoarding grain in time of dearth in 1740, but his son had the offending passage superseded by a different story. His wife was Jean Stuart, who died in 1736, and had five sons and two daughters. His sons James and Thomas founded the banking house of Coutts and Co. His daughter Sophia married Sir Francis Burdett, Bart., and was the mother of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, a noted philanthropist. |
Material | canvas (textile material)/textile materials/materials (substances); oil paint (paint)/paint (coating) |
Dimensions | 75.5 x 63.8 cm - canvas 97.7 x 85.7 cm - frame |
Collection | Art Collection |
Classification | oil paintings (visual works); paintings 1600-1800; paintings 1801-1900; portrait |
Accession Number | EU0247 |