Portrait of a Russian Merchant. 1854. Oil on canvas. 17 3/8 x 14 3/16 inches (44 x 36 cm). Collection of Dorich House Museum, Kingston University, accession no. CC0064. Image reproduced via Art UK for the purpose of non-commercial research.
Cave Thomas's journey to St. Petersburg in Russia, just prior to the outbreak of the Crimean War, must have given him the incentive for this painting. It was not the only portrait Thomas executed during this visit. Ford Madox Brown's diary for August 30, 1854 records: "thence to see Cave Thomas. He showed me a study of a Rushian [sic] Merchant that quite astonished me, a most noble painting equal to any thing modern or ancient, Thomas will paint great works yet I am now convinced" (88). The portrait that Brown saw is likely The Russian Dealer of the Gostvinordor that Thomas exhibited in 1855 at the National Institution of Fine Arts, no. 86. Thomas exhibited two Russian portraits that year as described in The Spectator: "Mr. Cave Thomas again takes us to Russia, with two elaborately-painted heads, somewhat metallic in flesh-tint, and surface, but the work of a thorough draughtsman - A Russian Dealer of the Gostvinordor, and Dealing in the North . The fur in the former is the very acme of imitation, yet above pettiness" (319). The painting now at Dorich House Museum seems more of a study than a finished painting for exhibition.
Thomas undertook the journey to Russia at considerable personal risk in order to carry a large sum of money in gold on behalf of a British mercantile firm. He was chosen for this mission because he was a good linguist, speaking several foreign languages, and he understood Russian. Thomas remained in St. Petersburg for several weeks during which time he must have painted this portrait study of a Russian merchant (see Dafforne 219).
Bibliography
Brown, Ford Madox. The Diary of Ford Madox Brown. Ed Virginia Surtees. London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.
Dafforne, James. "British Artists: Their Style and Character. No. LXXXIV – William Cave Thomas." The Art Journal New Series VIII (1869): 217-219.
"Fine Arts. The National Institution." The Spectator XXVIII (March 24, 1855): 319-20.
Portrait of a Russian Merchant. Art UK. Web. 3 February 2024.
Created 3 February 2024