Figure 1.--This pleasant, but not very moving copy of Lawrence's masterpiece Master Lambton illustrates the classic boys' skeleton suit widely worn at the turn of the 19th century.

Lawrence's works are so highly regarded that they are a popular subject of copiers. They copies are for the most part, pale imitations of the Lawrence orginals. The image shown here is a copy of the famous picture "Master Lambton" by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which has also appeared on a British stamp--as well as many a biscuit tin. It is probably his most well-known children's portrait.

Subject

"Master Lambton" was Charles William Lambton, the son of John George Lambton 1st Earl of Durham. Tragically, young Charles died on the December 24, 1831 aged just 13 years old, I don't know what the cause of death was but can imagine the grief and anguish his parents must have suffered upon losing such a beautiful child.

Copier

The copier is Francesco Baldini. While a pleasant enough copy, it is more of a cartoon than a portrait. It has none of Lawrence's brilliant draftsmanshi or Lawrence's ability to capture the personality of subjects.

Clothing

The boy wears a classic skeleton suit. It is a bright red velvet as was fashionable in England and other Europdean countries. We have noted quite a few paintings of voys wearing red and other colored skeleton suits. It would have been worn by a boy from a wealthy family. Of course only wealthy parents could afford Lawrence. Note that the boy did not wear any stockings. Usually boys in sleleton suits wore white socks or stockings. This is the only such image HBC knows of where the boy is not wearing stockings.

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Created: February 29, 1999
Spell checked: July 30, 1999
Last updated: May 31, 2002