William Forbes of Callendar, 1743 - 1815. Coppersmith and landowner
About this artwork
Forbes was a self-made man. The son of an Aberdeen merchant, he began work as a coppersmith and won a government contract to sheath ships' hulls in copper. With the fortune he made, he purchased the estates of Callendar and Linlithgow near Falkirk, which had been forfeited by the Jacobite Earl of Linlithgow after the 1715 Rising. He bought the estates at auction and is said to have astounded bystanders by producing a banknote for £100,000, specially printed for the occasion. Forbes paid sixty guineas (£63) for this portrait, one of Raeburn's finest full-lengths. The artist advised him to hang the picture 5 feet above the floor and said that it was best viewed at a distance of 22 feet (about 6.5 metres).
Updated before 2020
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artist:Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) Scottish
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title:William Forbes of Callendar, 1743 - 1815. Coppersmith and landowner
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date created:1798
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:236.80 x 150.50 cm; Framed: 266.00 x 179.70 x 12.00 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Long loan in 1984
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accession number:PGL 327
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Sir Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn
Originally apprenticed to a goldsmith, Henry Raeburn showed enormous artistic talent as a young man. In 1784 he moved to London where he met the important portrait painter Joshua Reynolds. He spent some time in Italy but returned to Edinburgh in 1787 where he began painting portraits of the rich,...
