Sir Martin Archer Shee, P.R.A.

half-length, wearing a red doublet with a white ruff collar

London, Royal Academy, 1817, no. 25

STRUCTURE The canvas has been lined. PAINT SURFACE The painting appears to be in generally good condition. There has been some very minor rubbing to the neck and chin of the sitter, otherwise there appears to be little or no damage to the surface of the paint. ULTRAVIOET Examination under ultraviolet light reveals very minor flecks of scattered retouching in the lower half of the face and in the costume of the sitter as well as to a section on the edge of the canvas where it meets the frame. FRAME Held in a carved and gilded wooden 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 the son of Thomas Tooke Snr. (1774-1858) the great English economist and pioneer of monetary theory, and his wife Priscilla (d. 1837), daughter of Charles Combe MD of Bloomsbury, London. His father was one of the authors of the movement for free-trade, which was presented as a petition on behalf of the merchants of the City of London to the House of Commons on 8^th May 1820 by Alexander Baring (later Baron Ashburton). His father was also a founder member of the Political Economy Club in April 1821 and Thomas Jnr. clearly shared the family talent for economics. He became Director of the Bank of England, but died young at the age of 47. Exhibited at the R.A. in 1817 this painting was one of at least two that Archer Shee painted of the Tooke children, a portrait of Thomas' brother Charles was shown there in 1823.