Lot 2138
ARTHUR WILLIAM DEVIS (1762-1822)
PORTRAIT OF SIR JOHN SHORE, Bt., 1ST LORD TEIGNMOUTH (1751-1834)
Standing, three quarter length, in an interior before a red swag, wearing a dark coat and buff breeches, standing by a table with Address of the British Inhabitants of Calcutta upon it, oil on canvas
125.5 x 98.5cm.;
with both volumes of the `Memoir of the Life and Correspondence of John, Lord Teignmouth` by his son, the 2nd Lord Teignmouth, London 1843, formerly owned by Lionel H. Shore, 1902 and by descent. (3)
For a further lot relating to this sitter, see lot 3166 in the Book Sale on February 3rd.
Exhibited: London, South Kensington Museum, National Portrait Exhibition (part 3), 1868 (lent by the 2nd Lord Teignmouth, then living at Langton Hall, Northallerton, North Yorkshire), label on stretcher; Preston, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, 2000, Arthur William Devis
Provenance: The portrait also by descent in the family of the sitter. Having passed from the 1st Lord directly to his son, the 2nd Lord, in Yorkshire, it was inherited by the 3rd Lord Teignmouth who lived at Crossways in Oxford. After the death of the 3rd Lord, the portrait was transferred to the home of his brother, the 4th Lord, at Ballyduff, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. Upon his death in 1921, it was removed to the home of another brother, the 5th Lord, at Mount Elton, Clevedon. During this transit, the picture was damaged and subsequently lined and repaired. The 5th Lord died in 1926. The 6th Lord (d.1964) and 7th Lord (d.1981) then took ownership and the portrait has been in the consignor's possession since 1981 when the title had become extinct.
Shore is holding a book entitled `Life/ of/ Sir Wm/ Jones` on the spine. This is a reference to the philologist Sir William Jones (1746-1794), esteemed Orientalist and Judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal.
John Shore was born on the 8th of October 1751, the son of Thomas Shore, a supercargo (shipping supervisor) in the service of the East India Company. John was educated at Harrow, and went out to India as a writer in the Bengal. He joined the Civil Service in 1769, was swiftly promoted and became a loyal and lifelong friend of Warren Hastings. Shore was made a member of the Supreme Council (1787-89) and was an effective administrator despite being considered over attentive to regulations. He assisted Lord Cornwallis in introducing many reforms. On the retirement of Cornwallis, Shore was appointed Governor General in September 1792 and created a baronet a month later. He sought a policy of non-interference, but deposed Wazir Ali, for whom he substituted Saadat Ali as Nawab of Oudh. His term of office was also notable for a mutiny of the officers of the Indian army, which Shore met with concessions. He was created Baron Teignmouth in the peerage of Ireland upon his resignation and return to London in 1798. He was appointed member of the Board of Control (1807-28), and was for many years president of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In addition, he was a keen philanthropist, a modest poet and a zealous evangelist. Shore married Charlotte Cornish (1759-1834). He died on the 14th of February 1834 and was succeeded to the title by his son, Charles John (1796-1885).
Devis produced six portraits of the Shore family between 1797 and 1817, four of which are in this sale. Devis had flourished in India from 1785-1795 despite stiff competition from Johann Zoffany and Thomas Hickey. He was paid the remarkable sum of £2530 for his portrait of Lord Cornwallis in 1793 (approximately £250,000 in today's terms) but he was destined nonetheless to die destitute and apoplectic in 1822, aged sixty.
