ROBERT LAWRENCE

Henry Raeburn, 1804

Oil on Canvas

33" x 38"

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This is an original portrait of our ancestor Robert Lawrence painted by the renowned Scottish portraitist Henry Raeburn in 1804. It was commissioned by the Edward Carleton & Company Ltd. of London on whose board of directors Robert served for more than three decades. Robert served as a Field Officer in the North Carolina Militia, Second Regiment during the Revolutionary War and was dispatched by General George Washington to meet the Marquis de Lafayette upon his landing in Georgetown, South Carolina on June 13, 1777 and escort him to Philadelphia.

Sir Henry Raeburn (March 4, 1756 – July 8, 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Originally apprenticed to a goldsmith, Raeburn showed enormous artistic talent as a young man. In 1784 he moved to London where he met the important portrait painter Joshua Reynolds. He spent some time in Italy but returned to Edinburgh in 1787 where he began painting portraits of the rich, famous and important people of his day. He was in constant demand and received many honors. In 1822 he was knighted when the King visited Edinburgh. Sir Henry Raeburn died a year later.