Credit: ©The Royal Society
Image number: RS.9727
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Portrait of unknown man
Date
early 18th century
Creator
Unknown, Artist
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (painting): 730mm
width (painting): 590mm
width (painting): 590mm
Description
Oval head and shoulders portrait of a man, body turned to the right as viewed. He wears a shoulder length light brown wig and is dressed in a blue gown with white collar and cuffs and a white lace cravat. His left hand is visible at the hem of the robe.
Transcription
Baron Halar
MV
A.von Haller Unknown
MV
A.von Haller Unknown
Object history
Presented by Sir James Paget FRS (1814-1899), 1892.
This portrait appears to have been acquired and donated by Sir James Paget, who was under the impression that it was of Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777). The work’s history was related in later correspondence concerned with an attempted identification via The Connoisseur magazine. “The portrait has belonged to the Royal Society since 1892, a gift from Sir James Paget. He has received it as a gift from Thomas S. Wise, Esq., of Norwood near London; in a letter dated 29th March 1889 Mr.Wise writes: ‘This painting was bought for me in Paris and belonged to his son Emmanuel de Haller, Banker, who died in Paris in 1816’. The Paris banker Emmanuel de Haller therefore at one time owned the picture and it is quite possible that he and his family laid great store by the painting as a portrait of his father in youth. On the other hand it must not be forgotten that Mr. Wise did not get the painting direct from the Haller family, but apparently through an art dealer. A mistake could therefore very easily have occurred. We have been unable to discover any likeness whatsoever between the Paris painting and the Herbert portrait or the Huber picture of 1736...”
This portrait appears to have been acquired and donated by Sir James Paget, who was under the impression that it was of Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777). The work’s history was related in later correspondence concerned with an attempted identification via The Connoisseur magazine. “The portrait has belonged to the Royal Society since 1892, a gift from Sir James Paget. He has received it as a gift from Thomas S. Wise, Esq., of Norwood near London; in a letter dated 29th March 1889 Mr.Wise writes: ‘This painting was bought for me in Paris and belonged to his son Emmanuel de Haller, Banker, who died in Paris in 1816’. The Paris banker Emmanuel de Haller therefore at one time owned the picture and it is quite possible that he and his family laid great store by the painting as a portrait of his father in youth. On the other hand it must not be forgotten that Mr. Wise did not get the painting direct from the Haller family, but apparently through an art dealer. A mistake could therefore very easily have occurred. We have been unable to discover any likeness whatsoever between the Paris painting and the Herbert portrait or the Huber picture of 1736...”
Associated place