Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Art Fund
Collection
attributed to <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-downman-159" aria-label="More by John Downman" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">John Downman</a>
Sir Ralph Abercromby  and Companion
Presented by Louis Duveen through the Art Fund 1918
Abercromby, Ralph, Sir
actions: expressive
adults
clothing and personal items
curtain
domestic
furnishings
individuals: male
interiors
man
map
military
named individuals
objects
people
portraits
scientific and measuring
soldier
study
table
talking
wig
work and occupations
<p>It is likely that the military man in this double portrait is either Sir Ralph Abercromby or General Edward Mathew. He examines a map of St George in Grenada, an island in the Caribbean to which both men had ties. Abercromby led the attack that suppressed Fédon’s Rebellion, an uprising against British colonial rule in Grenada in 1795–6. Mathew was colonial governor of Grenada from 1784 to 1789. John Downman’s portrait implicitly celebrates British military strength in the Caribbean despite the violence underpinning it.</p><p><em>Gallery label, May 2023</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
2 April 2007 – 31 October 2007
2007-10-31
2 April 2007 – 31 October 2007
2007-10-31
2007-04-02
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2007-04-02
Tracks of Slavery
Collection based display
2 December 2011 – 29 July 2012
2012-07-29
2 December 2011 – 29 July 2012
2012-07-29
2011-12-02
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2011-12-02
Atlantic Britain
Collection based display
11 September 2019 – 31 May 2020
2020-05-31
11 September 2019 – 16 February 2020
2020-02-16
2019-09-11
Musée du Luxembourg (Paris, France)
29 February 2020 – 31 May 2020
2020-05-31
2020-02-29
External
2019-09-11
Gainsborough to Turner: The Golden Age of English Painting
Loan-out
26 September 2022
26 September 2022
2022-09-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-09-26
Gallery 10
Collection based display
Sir Ralph Abercromby (?) and Companion
support: 762 × 635 mm
frame: 889 × 760 × 60 mm
Presented by Louis Duveen through the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 1918
<div class="text">
<p>It is likely that the military man in this double portrait is either Sir Ralph Abercromby or General Edward Mathew. He examines a map of St George in Grenada, an island in the Caribbean to which both men had ties. Abercromby led the attack that suppressed Fédon’s Rebellion, an uprising against British colonial rule in Grenada in 1795–6. Mathew was colonial governor of Grenada from 1784 to 1789. John Downman’s portrait implicitly celebrates British military strength in the Caribbean despite the violence underpinning it.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-11-29T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
Abercromby, Ralph, Sir actions: expressive adults clothing and personal items curtain domestic furnishings individuals: male interiors man map military named individuals objects people portraits scientific and measuring soldier study table talking wig work and occupations