John Tait

Scottish, 1796 - 1877

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Shown from the knees up, an older man sits in a rustic wooden chair and holds up a pocket watch for a young child who stands at his knees in this vertical portrait painting. They both have pale, peachy skin with flushed cheeks. They are lit from our upper left so the man’s face is partly in shadow while light pours onto the child’s upturned face. The man’s body is angled to our right, almost in profile, but he turns his head to look at us with dark eyes under heavy brows. His has a bulbous nose, lined cheeks, and a heavy jowl around thin lips, which are closed in a line. His light gray, wavy hair is tied back at the nape of his neck. He wears a black coat with a high collar and tightly fitting sleeves. A streak of white at his neck suggests a white shirt under the black, high-necked vest that covers his torso. He rests his right elbow, closer to us, on the arm of the chair so he can dangle a pocket watch in front of the child. The man’s knees disappear behind the child, who leans against his legs. The pocket watch is attached to a short gold chain, and the child holds up the fob, which is shaped like a Hershey’s Kiss candy, at the end of the chain. The young boy looks up at the watch with luminous, brown eyes. He has smooth, round cheeks, a short nose, and his pink lips are closed. The child has wavy, golden brown hair and his white garment has a squared neckline, short sleeves, and falls like a skirt off the bottom edge of the painting. The background behind the pair is painted with streaks of marigold orange, gold, and olive green to suggest trees against a sky painted with butter and harvest yellow, rust orange, and just a touch of pale blue at the upper left corner. The entire portrait is loosely painted, especially in the background, chair, and clothing.
Sir Henry Raeburn, John Tait and His Grandson, c. 1793, with additions c. 1800, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.103

John Tait and His Grandson

Sir Henry Raeburn · c. 1793, with additions c. 1800 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.103

Bibliography

1871

  • Burke, Sir Bernard. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. 2 vols. 5th ed. London, 1871: 2: 1355.