This was in Gainsborough’s possession at his death, and was exhibited at Schomberg House, 1789.
101 Portrait of C. F. Abel, the Musician (938). . . . . Robineau.
Half-length; seated at a piano or spinet, turned towards the right, but his face looking behind him, over his shoulder to the left. He is dressed in a red coat and has a small wig. On canvas, 2 ft. 1 in. high, by 1 ft. 8 in. wide. Signed on the left-hand side:—“C. Robineau 1780.”
Charles Frederick Abel was a pupil of Bach’s, and at one time belonged to the royal band at Dresden. He came to England about 1765, and was appointed master of Queen Charlotte’s band. Although he wrote music, he was more celebrated for his playing than his compositions. Abel was a very passionate man, and much addicted to the bottle,—peculiarities which the visitor would suspect him of, from his flushed face and red nose. He died in 1787, after being three days in a sort of drunken torpor.
Robineau was a portrait-painter who practised in Paris and London.
102 Duchess of Brunswick, Sister of George III. . . . . . A. Kauffman.
Full-length, turned to the right. She holds a child in her arms on an altar in front of her. She is dressed in white with an orange-coloured mantle, lined with light blue; she wears sandals. On canvas, 8 ft. 11 in. high, by 5 ft. 11 in. wide.
On the left at the foot of the column is the signature:—“Angelica Pinx Aº. 1767.” To the left, on a vase, the inscription:—
Carol. ILLE de Bruns. & Priñ. Hered.
A. MDCCLX M. Jul. apud Enisdorff VICTORIA.
et A. MDCCLXIV M. Jan. apud Lond. AMORE. Coron.
Augusta, the eldest daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, was born on the 31st of July, 1737, and was married to the Duke of Brunswick on the 17th of January, 1764. By him she became the mother, among other children, of Caroline, Princess of Wales, and of Duke William Frederick, “Brunswick’s fated chieftain,” who fell at Quatre-Bras. In 1767, when this portrait was painted, she was in England on a visit.