Portrait of Charles Chadwick (1753-1829) half length, in brown, wearing a mortar board and gown, a view of Emmanuel College, Cambridge beyond signed and dated 'J. Downman / Pinxt / 1779' (lower right) oil on copper 23.3 x 19.4cm

Provenance: By descent in the family of the sitter until an unknown date; The Rev. Henry Madan Pratt, MP, JP (1856-1934) Southern House, Cheltenham; His sale, Christie’s London, 23rd May 1930, lot 144 (26gns to Jones); H Burton-Jones, London; Mrs K Gifford Scott, Her sale, Sotheby’s London, 14th March 1984, lot 54 (£5,280), When acquired by Spink, London; Anonymous sale, Christie's London, 8th July 2016, lot 185, When acquired by the present owner

The present portrait was painted during the brief period when Downman resided in Cambridge. He reputedly set up his easel in college gardens to attract custom (see G C Williamson, John Downman ARA High Life and Works, London, 1907, p. xiv). The sitter, son of Colonel John Chadwick (1720-1800) of Healey Hall, was admitted to Emmanuel College in 1771. He is shown here outside the long facade of Emmanuel College where he had his lodgings, the new college building which was still being completed when he was there. He was later admitted to the Middle Temple in 1775 and attained his Bachelor of Law in 1778, he already being JP for the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1775. He was the same for Lancashire from 1785 and for Staffordshire from 1792 having succeeded to the family estates at Mavesyn Ridware in Staffordshire in 1784; Callow in Derbyshire and New Hall in Warwickshire in 1793 and to that of Healey Hall in Lancashire in 1800. He served also as a Deputy Lieutenant for Lancashire from 1777 and for Staffordshire from 1796. In 1788, he married Frances Green of Leventhorpe Hall in Yorkshire. In 1803, he went to reside at New Hall, his Warwickshire estate. He became a member of the Antiquarian Society in 1807 and after the fire at Emmanuel College in 1811, he contributed a substantial sum towards its rebuilding. The Chadwick family had a long association with Emmanuel College. The sitter’s kinsman, Charles Chadwick (d. 1627) was Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I, James I and Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, and was among the first three Fellows at Emmanuel College at its founding in 1584 where he became President in 1588 (see Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, Published by the Chetham Society, vol. XXXI, 1853, p. 183). A preparatory chalk drawing of 1778 of this sitter is in Downman's sketchbooks in the Fitzwilliam Museum (inv. no. 1894, Downman Sketchbooks from Butleigh Court, Second Series, vol. IV, no. 2). This portrait was almost certainly from its date commissioned from Downman to commemorate Chadwick receiving his law degree. We are grateful to Amanda Goode, Archivist at the Emmanuel College, for her assistance with this catalogue entry.

The painting is executed in oil on an oval copper support. The support and paint layers are in a good, stable condition overall. The paint layer has a slightly mottled surface, visible in the upper half which is due to application of the paint layer as well as the interaction between the oil and copper support. There are a few localised areas of retouching which are generally well matched to the original. The varnish is clear and even.