FREEMASONARY INTEREST: MID 19TH CENTURY BRITISH SCHOOL, Sir ...

Estimate

£1,500 - £1,800

FREEMASONARY INTEREST: MID 19TH CENTURY BRITISH SCHOOL, Sir Frederick Gustavus Fowke Bart (1782-1856), Deputy Provincial Grand Master for Leicestershire 1833-1851 and Provincial Grand Master 1851-1856, unsigned oil on relined canvas, 125cm x 99cm, gilt slip with attribution and gilt frame, 161cm x 135cm, this is a mid 19th century copy of the original oil on canvas hanging in the Leicestershire Freemasons Hall, an earlier portrait of the sitter from the 1820's by an unknown artist is held at the Museum of Freemasonry in London, the Fowke family were originally from Brewood in Staffordshire, born in 1782, Sir Frederick’s grandfather was Lieutenant-General Thomas Fowke, governor of Gibraltar, and his father was Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Fowke, groom of the bedchamber to Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, the brother of George III, it was that association which led Sir Thomas to name his first son in the honour of his royal patron, the 1st Baronet of Lowesby Hall – a title created for Sir Frederick in 1814, the year he married aged 32 – was from an old Leicestershire military family with other prominent Freemasons including Colonel Sir Thomas Fowke, the first Provincial Grand Master of Leicestershire, and Sir John Fowke Lancelot Rolleston JP, a prominent 19th century Leicestershire Freemason, Sir Frederick's obituary in the Leicestershire paper of the day gives a good account of his life as having partied with the Prince Regent and other royals but also his political career, position within freemasonry and his philanthropy in Leicestershire, Sir Frederick was also the senior Grand Warden for the United Grand Lodge of England in 1821 (Condition report: both the frame and canvas have losses to the gesso and flaking of the oils, it would benefit from a clean and repair, there is one patch on the rear of the canvas but other areas of touching in are visible to the front)