Treatment of a Henry Raeburn Portrait from 1817
Paintings Department:
Henry Raeburn, Lt. Col. George Allen of the 16th Hussars, ‘The Hussar’, 1817, oil on canvas
Senior Paintings Conservator, Stephanie Limoges, during treatment
This painting by Henry Raeburn was purchased at auction by our client who was excited that it was on the market for possibly only the second time in its long history. It is noted that this work is one of the last paintings executed in the artists career. The painting was overall in good condition for being over 200 years old! The frame is a hand carved and water gilded Louis the XV revival style frame which is elaborately carved with C and S scrolls, floral motifs and shells.
Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter and Scotland's first significant portrait painter since the Union. He served as portrait painter to King George IV. In 1784, he moved to London and then spent some time in Italy but returned to Edinburgh in 1787 where he began painting portraits of the most important rich and famous society figures of the times.
The treatment for the painting included an aqueous clean to remove the superficial dirt layer. A careful approach was taken to remove the discolored varnish where the oxidized varnish specifically focused on gently removing areas around the skin tones, whites of the dress shirt, cuffs and the stripe in the pant leg. In the darker tones of the painting, particularly the background and the object under the figure’s right hand, the varnish layers were thinned to attempt leaving the colored glaze in order to avoid any new extensive retouching. Next, a new conservation grade varnish was applied before the painting received its final retouching. The frame received only minor conservation treatment to attach the loose sections of frame molding, consolidate losses and flaking sections, and infill the cracks and losses and retouch.
During gilded frame treatment
After Treatment
Please contact Preservation Arts for any conservation projects you may be considering. Call 510-808-7894 or email info@preservation-arts.com.