James Stephanoff O.W.S. 1787-1874 Watercolour Portrait of Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, Lord Castlereagh in Garter Robes. Circa 1820.
The preparatory drawing for the aquatint engraving by William Bond titled "Portrait of a Knight" illustration to Sir George Nayler's 'The Coronation of George IV' (London: 1824).
Watercolour on wove paper laid on to card. Some surface abrasion, edge damages, staining and fading. Unique. 24.5 by 34 cms overall.
Lord Castlereagh 1769-1822 was an Anglo-Irish politician and statesman. As secretary to the Viceroy of Ireland, he worked to suppress the Rebellion of 1798 and to secure passage in 1800 of the Irish Act of Union. As Foreign Secretary from 1812, he was central to the management of the coalition that defeated Napoleon, and was British plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna In the post-war government of Lord Liverpool. Castlereagh was seen to support harsh measures against agitation for reform. After 1815, at home, Castlereagh supported repressive measures that linked him in public opinion to the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. Widely reviled in both Ireland and Great Britain, overworked, and personally distressed, Castlereagh committed suicide while in office in 1822. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Some time after Castlereagh's death, Lord Byron wrote a savage quip about his grave:
- Posterity will ne'er survey
- A nobler grave than this:
- Here lie the bones of Castlereagh:
- Stop, traveller, and piss.