Portrait of John Kirby Picard Jnr
John Kirby Picard (1766-1843), the sitter's father, was a Deputy Recorder of Hull and a prosperous lead importer who issued lead trading tokens in Hull. J.K. Picard Junior (1797-1836) joined the Horse Guards and fought at Waterloo, resigning his commission in 1822. He later became a partner in his father's business. The painting was probably done just before he left home to join the army. The stone monument upon which he sits is presumably imaginary - as the son of a civic dignitary rather than a country squire, there was no extensive estate in which he could be represented. James Ramsay achieved considerable success as a portrait painter. He also exhibited history and genre scenes. He lived and worked for much of the time in London, but frequently returned to the north, eventually settling in Newcastle upon Tyne. There, he painted the famous wood engraver Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), who recorded in his memoirs that Ramsay, 'gives the character as well as the likeness so correctly that they look like the person alive - they ought indeed not to be called likeness but Fac similes.'
