Charlecote Park Franks Forage No 13.            Sir Henry Raeburn   If you were asked which British artist has works hanging in the house at Charlecote and is depicted on a commemorative postage stamp you may assume it to be Gainsborough. It is however, Sir Henry Raeburn who painted the portraits on the landing of Sir Ewen Cameron and Thomas Ramsay- Williamson. The 5p stamp issued in 1973 commemorating the 150th anniversary of Raeburn’s death is one of a 4 value set depicting two British artists and shows a self-portrait Raeburn. (The other artist commemorated is Sir Joshua Reynolds). Raeburn was born in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. Orphaned, he was educated in Herriot’s hospital. Aged 15, he was apprenticed to a goldsmith where he adorned jewellery with miniature paintings. Having achieved success with miniatures, he turned to oil painting at which he was self-taught. He was introduced to David Martin, then the leading portrait painter in Edinburgh who provided him with portraits to copy. One of those portraits was that of Robert Ramsay of Camno shown on the right. (For David Martin’s original see my forage No. 12). Raeburn married a wealthy widow which enabled him to travel; first to London where he met Reynolds and hence to Rome on Reynold’s advice. There he met the ageing Batoni and an antique dealer who advised him to “never copy an object from memory but, from the principal figure to the minutest accessory, have it placed before him.” Returning to Edinburgh in 1787, he began a successful career as a portrait painter. In 1812 he was elected president of the Society of Artists in Edinburgh and in 1815 a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1822 he was knighted by George IV and he died in Edinburgh in 1823. He was said to be unusual among his contemporaries by his philosophy of painting everything directly from life. Sir Ewen Cameron (left) of Fassifern was directly descended from his namesake, Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel the 17th chief of Clan Cameron, mentioned by Sir Walter Scot in The Lady of the Lake. Sir Ewen in the portrait was born in 1740 and was the great-grandfather of Christina Cameron-Campbell who married Henry Spencer Lucy in 1865. For information on Thomas Williamson-Ramsay (right) see forages numbers 4 and 12. It is thought that the portrait on the landing of Katherine Ramsay is not by Raeburn as described on the frame tag. According to experts at National Trust Collections it is by Henri-Pierre Danloux and depicts Katherine in mourning. The painting of Robert Ramsay of Maxton is also attributed to Danloux. I am awaiting more information from the NT Collections people. Watch this space!                                                                            Frank Storr   Frank would welcome comments and any additional information you may have on ‘Frank’s Forages’. Contact him by email on n.splurge@btinternet.com You can also leave comments in the Tuesday Day Leader’s pigeon hole.