Half-length portrait of Charles Harvey, afterwards Charles Savill Onley. Oil on canvas by Philip Reinagle, ca.1775.

Half-length portrait of the sitter when a young man, seated at a table, turned to left and looking to front. The sitter's right hand is placed on a sheet of paper on the table. He is wearing a cravat, grey coat and his hair is powdered and tied back.

Bequeathed by Claude D. Rotch

Mr. C. D. Rotch, of Wimbledon, London, was a collector with a particular interest in furniture. Like other furniture collectors of the early 20th century he was influenced by the furniture connoisseur and dealer R.W. Symonds. Following the prevailing taste of the time, his collection focused on early to mid-Georgian carved mahogany examples and was later bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum on his death in 1962 (see R.W. Symonds, 'Mr. C.D. Rotch's Collection of Furniture', Country Life, 7 June 1924, pp.937-39). At the time, his bequest was described by the authorities as "The most remarkable single gift of English Furniture ever presented to the Museum". The bequest also included just over twenty 17th, 18th and early 19th century portraits and figure studies, in pastel and in oil, as well as a selection of still lives and animal pictures.

Charles Harvey, who was a barrister, Recorder of Norwich and Member of Parliament, took the surname and arms of his mother's family, Savill Onley in 1822. He died in 1843. For the portrait of his wife see under Edwards, P.78-1962.

Charles Harvey (died 1843) was the third son of Robert Harvey and Judith, née Onley. He was a barrister, Recorder of Norwich and M.P. for Norfolk in 1812 and also twice for Carlow in Ireland. He took the surnames and arms of Savill Onley in 1822 on the death of his maternal uncle, the Rev. Charles Onley, from whom he inherited a fine estate, Stisted, in Essex.

This portrait may have been executed upon Charles Harvey’s leaving Caius College, Cambridge, in 1775 or 1776. This was at a time when Reinagle was principal assistant to Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) and responsible for painting the latter’s huge workload of Coronation portraits of the King and Queen during his absence in Italy between 1775-77.

The pose of Charles Harvey is naturalistic, conveying a latent energy, with the sitter looking over his left shoulder, as if disturbed from his reading matter which lies upon the table. The placing of the sitter in an airy space and the strong diagonals of form and light and dark tonality help to reinforce his physical presence. The sitter’s features are highly individualised and clear-cut. These aspects, combined with the overall candour in portraying this young man, at a time when he was perhaps poised to take his next step, show that Reinagle had assimilated Ramsay’s style of portraiture. In particular P.26-1962 recalls Philip, Viscount Mahon, dated 1762 (The Board of Trustees of the Chevening Estate) and Dr William Hunter, c. 1764 (?) (Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow). Ultimately the V&A work brings to mind French portraiture, notably the works of Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779), possibly filtered through Ramsay, whose work betrayed a strong French influence in the 1750s and 1760s.

This portrait of Charles Harvey was executed by Reinagle during an extremely busy time in his career when he was principal assistant to the retired Allan Ramsay. The design, naturalistic pose and candid expression of the sitter reveal Ramsay’s influence and ultimately that of French portraiture which Reingale would have assimilated through his master’s work.

P.26-1962