FDA-P.6-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-P.6-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Henry Bland, D.D.
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Description
Three-quarter length portrait of a man, in clerical dress, seated in a red chair
Comments
Henry Bland D.D. was a King’s Scholar at Eton College from 1688 to 1695. He later served as Head Master (1720–25) and Provost (1732–46).
Bland's portrait has an unusually feminine frame, decorated with ornaments representing hearts and flower baskets. In September 2019, the frame was transported to the City & Guilds of London Art School where students carried out supervised treatment over two years, as part of their Frame Conservation course (the treatment was delayed by Covid-19). As a result, missing elements of the decoration are now restored and the gilded surface of the frame has been stabilised and cleaned.
John Vanderbank was a portraitist, history painter and illustrator. He established his own academy of painting with French painter Louis Chéron (1660–1725), in St Martin's Lane, Covent Garden. However, in 1724 the academy closed after Vanderbank fled to France to avoid imprisonment for debts. From 1724 to 1729 he was repeatedly in debt, leading to his detention in the Fleet prison.
The sitter was:
A King's Scholar at Eton College (1688-1695)
Headmaster of Eton College (1720-1725)
The 22nd Provost of Eton College (1732-1746)
Bland's portrait has an unusually feminine frame, decorated with ornaments representing hearts and flower baskets. In September 2019, the frame was transported to the City & Guilds of London Art School where students carried out supervised treatment over two years, as part of their Frame Conservation course (the treatment was delayed by Covid-19). As a result, missing elements of the decoration are now restored and the gilded surface of the frame has been stabilised and cleaned.
John Vanderbank was a portraitist, history painter and illustrator. He established his own academy of painting with French painter Louis Chéron (1660–1725), in St Martin's Lane, Covent Garden. However, in 1724 the academy closed after Vanderbank fled to France to avoid imprisonment for debts. From 1724 to 1729 he was repeatedly in debt, leading to his detention in the Fleet prison.
The sitter was:
A King's Scholar at Eton College (1688-1695)
Headmaster of Eton College (1720-1725)
The 22nd Provost of Eton College (1732-1746)
Description
Content (person)
Bland, Henry, c.1677 - 1746 (Sitter)
Dimensions
height (sight size): 1250mm
width (sight size): 992mm
width (sight size): 992mm
Inscription
I.D. label on canvas
I.D. label on frame
I.D. label on frame
Materials & techniques note
Oil on canvas
Physical description
English Louis XIV frame, carved and gilded wood
Production
Person
Vanderbank, John, 1694 - 1739 (Artist)
Date
1736
History and association
References
• Cust, L., Eton College Portraits, 1910 (p.67)
