FDA-P.260-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-P.260-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Mr Harris, K.S.
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Description
Half-length portrait of a young man; turned to the right, looking at the spectator; wearing black gown and white neck tie; with long hair; within a feigned oval
Comments
'Another interesting picture in the Audit-room is that of George Harris, only son of John Harris, "the ingenious Master Gunner of Windsor Castle, and who was an honest, hearty, and agreeable man."
George Harris went to Eton and became Fellow of King's in due course, and Vicar of Ringwood, Hants, in 1723, returning to Eton as a Fellow in 1731. He was Bursar for some years, and Curate of Clewer. He was related by marriage to the family of Provost Sleech, which probably accounts for much of his preferment. On the death of Dr. Thomas Carter in 1746, he was elected Vice-Provost, being then Senior Fellow, and succeeded Dr. Carter in the Vicarage of Worplesdon.
One of the most charming pictures in the collection of the College is this portrait of George Harris, as a young man. He wears his hair long, and has stiff precise linen bands ; the face is wonderfully fresh, vigorous, and youthful, but has a good-natured firmness about it. The bright eyes look out humorously from half-shut long eyelids. It is a pity to think that so bright and trim an ecclesiastic can have been no more than a successful Bursar and an amiable Vice-Provost. Here, if physiognomy can be trusted, was a brisk and plentiful nature, one who loved, practised, and recommended virtue, and trode the earth bravely.'
[Source: Lionel Cust, 'Eton College Portraits', 1910, p.69]
I.D. label on frame
Formerly in an early 19th-century gilt frame. The frame was replaced for a modern black frame with a gilt slip in 2016. See images of the label on the back of the former frame, which seems to relate to FDA-P.427-2012.
George Harris went to Eton and became Fellow of King's in due course, and Vicar of Ringwood, Hants, in 1723, returning to Eton as a Fellow in 1731. He was Bursar for some years, and Curate of Clewer. He was related by marriage to the family of Provost Sleech, which probably accounts for much of his preferment. On the death of Dr. Thomas Carter in 1746, he was elected Vice-Provost, being then Senior Fellow, and succeeded Dr. Carter in the Vicarage of Worplesdon.
One of the most charming pictures in the collection of the College is this portrait of George Harris, as a young man. He wears his hair long, and has stiff precise linen bands ; the face is wonderfully fresh, vigorous, and youthful, but has a good-natured firmness about it. The bright eyes look out humorously from half-shut long eyelids. It is a pity to think that so bright and trim an ecclesiastic can have been no more than a successful Bursar and an amiable Vice-Provost. Here, if physiognomy can be trusted, was a brisk and plentiful nature, one who loved, practised, and recommended virtue, and trode the earth bravely.'
[Source: Lionel Cust, 'Eton College Portraits', 1910, p.69]
I.D. label on frame
Formerly in an early 19th-century gilt frame. The frame was replaced for a modern black frame with a gilt slip in 2016. See images of the label on the back of the former frame, which seems to relate to FDA-P.427-2012.
Description
Content (note)
Half-length, in scholar's dress, feigned oval
Dimensions
height (sight size): 750mm
width (sight size): 620mm
width (sight size): 620mm
Physical description
Ornate carved gilt frame
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of the Reverend E.C. Hawtrey, D.D.; by whom presented to Eton College
