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Photography © 2015 Fredrik Nilsen
Thomas John Clavering, later Sir Thomas Clavering, Bart., and Catherine Mary Clavering: The Clavering Children

Thomas John Clavering, later Sir Thomas Clavering, Bart., and Catherine Mary Clavering: The Clavering Children

Maker (British, 1734-1802)
Sitter (British, 1771 - 1853)
Sitter (British, 1769 - 1785)
Collections
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Date1777
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 62 × 49 1/2 in. (157.5 × 125.7 cm.) frame: 72 × 59 3/4 × 6 3/4 in. (182.9 × 151.8 × 17.1 cm.)
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Adele S. Browning Memorial Collection, Gift of Mildred Browning Green and Honorable Lucius Peyton Green
Status
Not on view
Label TextThis portrait vividly demonstrates the way differences between boys and girls were viewed in the 18th century. Thomas holds the reins of power, grasping his dogs’ leash assertively, while his sister Catherine is cast in a more nurturing and submissive role, hugging a puppy to her chest. Through costumes that evoke the ancient past and a composition that makes these children tower over the low horizon, Romney lends his young subjects a seriousness and monumentality rarely seen in portraits of young children.
Bibliography
Object number78.20.35
    The Huntington
    Copyright © The Huntington