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Francis Bindon (c.1690-1765) SWIFT'S MAN inscribed on reverse oil on canvas, lined 81...

Currency:EUR Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:2,000.00 - 4,000.00 EUR
Francis Bindon (c.1690-1765) SWIFT'S MAN inscribed on reverse oil on canvas, lined 81...
Francis Bindon (c.1690-1765)
SWIFT'S MAN
inscribed on reverse
oil on canvas, lined
81 by 62cm., 32 by 24.5in.
An amateur portrait painter and architect from Co. Clare, Bindon is best known for his portraits of Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), which have been extensively documented by F. R. Falkiner, in his article "On the Portraits, Busts, and Engravings of Swift and their Artists", which appeared in Temple Scott (ed.), The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, Vol. XII, London, 1908, pp.19-24, and by Walter Strickland op. cit. in 1913. Strickland found Bindon's portraits "stiff and awkwardly painted", although he did allow the artist's genuine ability to capture his sitter's character. Bindon travelled abroad as a young man, studying in Padua and later in London at the Academy of Painting, where he received tuition from Sir Godfrey Kneller. Upon returning to Ireland in the 1720s he achieved considerable success as a portrait artist, possibly owing to his family connections (his father was MP for Ennis and his brother Thomas was Dean of Limerick). He also worked on a number of architectural designs, including those for Russborough House, Co. Wicklow. Bindon continued painting until the mid-1750s, at which point he retired due to failing eye-sight (see Nicola Figgis and Brendan Rooney, Irish Paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland, Vol. I, Dublin, 2001, pp.82-83). The present work is similar in size and execution to the National Gallery's later portrait of Swift (NGI 4069) which is likewise composed within a false oval. The inscription on reverse appears to have been overwritten in a later hand and reads: "Swift's Man MacEncatra / Francis Bindon fecit". MacEncatra would seem to be an inaccurate anglicisation of Mac an Carta, which is turn is the original Irish for McCarthy. The man in question is depicted in half-length, seated at a table which is covered with a striped cloth and upon which stands an inkwell. In his right hand a pen is poised above a document, whilst a pair of wire-frame spectacles are clasped in his left hand. A row of ledgers visible in the background suggest his role to be that of clerk or secretary to Swift.
€2,000-€4,000 (IR £1,600-£3,100 approx.)
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