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Half length portrait of a young man [Bray album]

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Date

Dec 1774

Description

No. 26 of 74. A drawing of a young man dated and signed 'Decr: 74 AVprGB' (to the life by Gabriel Bray), the date suggests this is possibly one of the 'Pallas's' midshipmen or master's mates, though the dress is unspecific. It is one of 73 drawings by Bray (plus one signed 'NF 1782') preserved in a 19th-century album. They have now been separately remounted. Bray (1750-1823), was second lieutenant of the 44-gun ‘Pallas’ under Captain the Hon. William Cornwallis (1744-1819) – later a well-known admiral - on two voyages (1774-77) to report on British interests in West Africa, including the slave trade. The dated drawings refer only to the first of these, from December 1774 to September 1775, though a few may be from the second. Others comprise country views, some of Deal, Kent (where Bray may have come from), and others of social-history interest.

Image Licence

CC BY-NC-ND

Image Credit

Location

Atlantic Ocean

Medium

Watercolour