Portrait of General Charles Vallancey

Portrait of General Charles Vallancey

RDS_treasures_177_Williams_Charles Vallancey.jpg

Portrait of General Charles Vallancey (Ca.1725-1812), British military surveyor, cartographer and Chief Engineer of Ireland, Vice-President of the (Royal) Dublin Society (1799-1812). The subject depicted full length, in three-quarter left profile, gazing front; seated in a carved giltwood armorial armchair with shaped oval upholstered back in a moulded frame and cabriole supports carved as dolphins on moulded supports and scrolled toes (the supports identical to those of RDS.534 The RDS President's Chair), against the left side of which two cartography portfolios are propped; his proper left arm on the armrest of the chair, his proper right arm resting on a cartograph which is spread between his lap and a table, upon which also is an inkwell and two quills; wearing a single-curl periwig, dark blue coat with high turndown collar, wide lapel and brass buttons, yellow stand-collar waistcoat, white cravat, dark breeches and highly polished black boots; set against a red curtain, pulled back to reveal the base of a classical column in the upper left of the composition.
Solomon Williams was a pupil at the Royal Dublin Society Drawing Schools.

RDS Treasures Collection

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RDS Library & Archives

Painting

Ca.1800-1810

Oil on canvas

228.5 x 152.5 cm