John Gray (1731–1811) of Newholm

The Sitter: John Gray, the eldest son of William Gray of Newholm, married Marion Brown, daughter of the Reverend James Brown, a minister of Edinburgh. Gray was a Scottish writer to the signet[1] and, from 1786 until his death in 1811, town clerk of Edinburgh. Lord Cockburn, in his Memorials, described Gray as "a judicious man, with a belly, white hair, and decorous black clothes; famous for drinking punch, holding his tongue, and doing jobs quietly; a respectable and useful officer, with an exclusive devotion to the town-council, but with such municipal wisdom, and such an intimate acquaintance with their affairs, that he was oftener the master than the slave."[2]

The Painting: The generally well-preserved portrait was cleaned at The Metropolitan Museum in 1992 by Hubert von Sonnenburg. At that time, old black overpaint was removed from the sitter’s stockings, returning their color to the original white. The view through the window at the left had been retouched to read as a landscape with trees and an ominous sky rather than a volcano with a plume and a cloud of black smoke. These changes also were reversed (see fig. 1 above).

A fine mezzotint engraving by George Dawe after Raeburn’s portrait was published by D. Hatton, Edinburgh, in 1806 and dedicated to the Royal Company of Golfers.[3] An email received from Randall R. Lunn in 2019 (departmental archives) states that both Gray and Raeburn were members of the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, known as Muirfield, and that the club commissioned the portrait which hung in the clubhouse until it was sold in 1831. Lunn also suggested that the "volcano" at left in the painting is actually a kiln that may have been part of Gray's business.

David Mackie (1988) knew of, but had not seen, another portrait of Gray, and having looked at this one, identified it as a copy. However, assuming the provenance to be correct, the present work was accepted as a Raeburn while on long-term loan from Major-General Cunningham to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, and was also lent, as the work of Raeburn, by Frank Bulkeley Smith to the Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts. Technically, it seems to be quite typical for the artist, who in any case painted many replicas. The sitter’s apparent age and costume suggest a date between 1795 and 1805, the year before Dawe’s print was published.

[2019; updated from Baetjer 2009]

[1] Scottish writers to the signet correspond to English solicitors. They have certain exclusive privileges and by custom are considered a corporation. See "Writers to the Signet," in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed., Cambridge, 1911, vol. 28, p. 851.
[2] Henry Cockburn, Memorials of his Time, New York, 1856, p. 97.
[3] John Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits, London, 1884, part 1, p. 150. According to Kenneth Sanderson, "Engravings after Raeburn," Print Collector's Quarterly 12 (April 1925), pp. 139, 147, ill. p. 146, the print is Dawe's "triumph" and "altogether admirable."

Muirfield Golf Club, near Edinburgh (commissioned from the artist; until 1831); Alexander Cunningham, Edinburgh (in 1876); his nephew, Major-General Sir Alexander Cunningham (in 1901); R. Hall McCormick, Chicago; Frank Bulkeley Smith, Worcester, Mass. (by 1913–d. 1918; his estate sale, American Art Association, New York, April 23, 1920, no. 110, for $2,100 to W. W. Seaman); Lillian S. (Mrs. William R.) Timken, New York (until d. 1959)

Edinburgh. Royal Academy, National Galleries. "Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.," October–November 1876, no. 113 (as "John Gray, Esq. of Newholm, Town-Clerk of Edinburgh," lent by Alexander Cunningham, Esq., W.S.).

Little Rock. Arkansas Arts Center. "Five Centuries of European Painting," May 16–October 26, 1963, unnumbered cat. (p. 34).

William Raeburn Andrew. Life of Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. 2nd ed. London, 1894, p. 124, no. 134, lists it among paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy, Edinburgh, in 1876.

Walter Armstrong. Sir Henry Raeburn. London, 1901, p. 103, ill. p. 52, as in the collection of Major-General Cunningham and lent for many years to the National Gallery of Scotland.

Edward Pinnington. Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. London, 1904, p. 232.

R. S. Clouston. Sir Henry Raeburn. London, 1908, ill. p. 29, as at the Scottish National Gallery.

James Greig. Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.: His Life and Works. London, 1911, p. 47, ill. p. 20 (cropped).

"Loans, by Worcester People." The Worcester Art Museum: Report of the Trustees, Officers, and List of Sustaining Members (1913), p. 20, among paintings lent by Frank Bulkeley Smith, lists "Portrait of a Man, by Sir Henry Raeburn," presumably this work.

John Canaday. "Flip of Coin Helps Divide Fortune in Art." New York Times (May 15, 1960), p. 77.

David Mackie. Letter to Katharine Baetjer. February 12, 1988, believes the portrait to be a later copy, stating that there is supposed to be another version of it by Raeburn which he has not seen.

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 195, ill. p. 196.

Katharine Baetjer. British Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1575–1875. New York, 2009, p. 168, no. 81, ill. (color).