Sir Henry Raeburn R.A., P.R.S.A. 1756-1823

half length, seated, wearing the robes of Lord Commissioner of the High Court of Justiciary and a black tricorn hat

By family descent until 2003

STRUCTURE The canvas has been lined. PAINT SURFACE The overall appearance is good. Stretcher marks are visible running vertically on the left and right hand sides of the painting with re-touching to the backgroud. There is a very small area of paint loss on the extreme right of the canvas, partially concealed by the frame. ULTRAVIOLET Ultraviolet light reveals some general re-touching particularly to the background of the painting. FRAME Held in a 19th Century gilt plaster frame.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The sitter was born in Stockbridge near Edinburgh, the eldest of twelve children of John Swinton, an advocate, and his wife Mary Semple. On 23rd June 1758 he married Margaret, daughter of John Mitchelson of Middleton, by whom he had six sons and seven daughters. His legal career began in 1743 when at the age of twenty he was admitted advocate and in 1754 Sheriff-Depute of Perthshire. In 1782 he was elevated to the bench and in 1788 was made a Lord of Justiciary.

As a lawyer he took an active role in the reform of law, notably in relation to entails, and in 1779 produced an influential pamphlet on the question of weights and measures in Scotland. His most important pamphlet, produced in 1789, concerned such matters as limiting litigation in small cases and reviving jury trials for certain civil actions. Lord Cockburn, after calling him 'in his person large and heavy' continued that 'it is only a subsequent age that has discovered his having possessed a degree of sagacity, for which he did not get credit while he lived.'

This fine portrait dates from circa 1788 when the sitter was elevated to Lord of Justiciary. It is from the same period as Raeburn's portrait of Robert Dundas, Lord Arniston of 1787, which is the first painting known to have been painted by the artist after his return from Rome.