John Smart, Portrait of Josias Du Pré Porcher, 1787

Chicago:

Blythe Sobol, “John Smart, Portrait of Josias Du Pré Porcher, 1787,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 4, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1580.

MLA:

Sobol, Blythe. “John Smart, Portrait of Josias Du Pré Porcher, 1787,” catalogue entry. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan. The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, edited by Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, vol. 4, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. doi: 10.37764/8322.5.1580.

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

Josias Du Pré Porcher (ca. 1761–1820) was born in about 1761 to Paul Porcher and Elizabeth Du Pré,¹ both descendants of Huguenots who emigrated to South Carolina in the late seventeenth century and built plantations that prospered through the labor of enslaved people.² With the support and influence of his uncle and namesake Josias Du Pré, who had made his fortune in India and married the daughter of an earl, the younger Josias traveled to England and subsequently Madras in 1778, the year his father died.³

Beginning in the Honourable East India Company’s (HEIC) ranks as a writer, Porcher rose to Deputy Paymaster, a post he served from 1783 to 1786. After being appointed Senior Merchant in 1785, Porcher was financially secure enough to marry the eighteen-year-old Charlotte Burnaby (1769–1818) (Fig. 1, F65-41/28), daughter of the late Admiral Sir William Burnaby, 1st Baronet, and Lady Grace Drewry Ottley Burnaby, of Broughton Hall, Oxfordshire, on November 1, 1787.⁴

That year, John Smart painted the newlyweds in miniature. They are not immediately obvious as a pair: Smart painted Josias before a characteristic stippled background in shades of olive and brown, while Charlotte is framed against a moody gray-blue sky, a device Smart began using more frequently in India. Both husband and wife are finely dressed, perhaps in their wedding clothes, with powdered hair that appears lilac in color. Smart’s close study of earlier portrait miniatures is evident in his use of two different shades in Charlotte’s upper and lower lips, a nod to the technique of Christian Friedrich Zincke (ca. 1684–1767).⁵ While Smart selected shades of brown and peach for Josias’s tanned flesh tones, he attentively rendered Charlotte’s aristocratic pallor, which appears almost translucent, with delicate blue and purple shadows around her eyes and at her temples. Englishwomen in India took pains to protect their skin from the sun and camouflaged any obvious exposure with white powders, valuing fair skin as a sign of good breeding, class, and ultimately whiteness.⁶

By marrying into the Burnaby family, Porcher joined a lineage with close ties to society in both India and England. Charlotte’s sisters, Georgiana and Emma, also married men of high rank in the HEIC and the Madras Native Infantry.⁷ All three sisters and two of their spouses were painted by Smart, beginning with Georgiana Chamier (née Burnaby) in 1786 and the Porchers the following year.⁸ Charlotte Porcher must have valued Smart’s likeness of her, as he painted her a second time, in 1788, one year after the Nelson-Atkins miniature was completed.⁹ The contrast between the two portraits is striking: Charlotte, now a new mother or perhaps still pregnant, is rendered with much warmer tones.¹⁰ Her skin is flushed pink, probably due to longer exposure to the Indian sun, and her brows are no longer carefully darkened with charcoal. The olive-brown background now matches her husband’s miniature.

The Burnaby sisters’ social connections may not only have helped John Smart find new patrons but also aided Josias Du Pré Porcher in his career. After joining the Board of Trade and Committee of Works in 1790, Porcher was appointed Mayor of Madras in 1791. Having built a substantial fortune in India, the Porchers returned to England by 1798.¹¹ They settled in Devon, purchasing a country estate, Winslade House.¹²

Through his relationship with the 2nd Earl of Caledon, a family friend,¹³ and his own newfound riches, Porcher obtained a seat in Parliament, in which he served as a member from 1802 until 1818.¹⁴ That year, Charlotte died at the age of forty-eight, on September 29, 1818. Porcher inscribed her gravestone as “the last tribute of an affectionate husband.”¹⁵ From 1818 until his death, he held a prestigious position at court as a gentleman of the privy chamber. Having outlived his wife and nearly all of their eight children,¹⁶ Josias Du Pré Porcher died at Winslade House on April 25, 1820, at age fifty-nine.¹⁷

Notes

1. Several accounts record his mother’s name as Esther Du Pré, but this was most likely Paul Porcher’s second wife, Esther Dupont. R. G. Thorne, “PORCHER, Josias Du Pré (?1761–1820), of Hillingdon House, Mdx. and Winslade House, Devon,” The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1715–1754, ed. R. Thorne (1986), online edition, https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/porcher-josias-du-pratildecopy-1761-1820. Supporting the identification of Porcher’s mother as Elizabeth is the 1749 will of his great aunt Jane or Jean Du Pré, which lists a bequest to her daughter: “I give and Bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth Porcher one negroe [sic] girl named Diana and my hand in hand Ring,” naming a human being as chattel alongside a piece of jewelry. Jean Du Pré names her “Son In Law, Mr. Paul Porcher,” as an executor. “Will of Jean Du Pré,” August 10, 1748, South Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1670–1980, digitized on ancestry.com. Additional support for this identification is in the will of Josias Du Pré, where he mentions “Josias Du Pré Porcher of London, son of my late sister Elizabeth by her husband, Paul Porcher of South Carolina, planter.” Quoted in Petrona Royall McIver, “Josias and Martha Du Pré and Some of Their Descendants,” South Carolina Historical Magazine 71, no. 1 (1970): 49. Furthermore, in Paul Porcher’s 1778 will, he names “my beloved wife Esther,” indicating that his first wife, Elizabeth, had died. “Will of Paul Porcher,” February 20, 1778, Wills, Vol. 19, 1780–1783; Wills, Vol 20, 1783–1786; Wills and Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1671–1868, digitized on ancestry.com.

2. Paul Porcher’s plantation was in Saint Peter’s Parish, South Carolina. “Will of Paul Porcher.”

3. Josias Du Pré left his namesake one thousand pounds in his will. The younger Josias was further supported by the bequest in his father’s will for one thousand acres in Georgia and the profits from the sale another property in South Carolina “for any sum not less than seven thousand pounds currency . . . when he arrives at the age of twenty years,” along with four enslaved people, “Mustisce [?] Caesar, Dick, Diana, and Cain with their present and future issue and increase”; “Will of Paul Porcher.”

4. Their marriage is recorded on November 1, 1787, at Fort St. George, Madras. F. E. P., ed., Marriages at Fort St. George, Madras (Exeter: William Pollard, 1907), 41.

5. For more on the unusual hair colors of some of Smart’s sitters, see Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, “Pretty in Pink: John Smart’s Penchant (or Not) for Pink Hair.”

6. Colorism was deeply ingrained in colonial politics. The Honourable East India Company called their settlement at Fort St. George, Madras, “White Town,” while the Indian district was called “Black Town.” Neha Mishra, “India and Colorism: The Finer Nuances,” Washington University Global Studies Law Review 14 (2015): 732. On broader debates about whiteness in eighteenth-century portraiture, see, for example, Angela Rosenthal, “Visceral Culture: Blushing and the Legibility of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century British Portraiture,” Art History 27, no. 4 (September 2004): 563–92.

7. Cy Harrison, “Sir William Burnaby (1st Baronet Burnaby of Broughton Hall),” Three Decks, accessed October 1, 2024, https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=168.

8. John Smart, Mrs. John Chamier (née Georgiana Grace Burnaby), 1786, watercolor on ivory, 2 3/16 in. (5.6 cm) high, sold at Christie’s, London, “Important Gold Boxes, Objects of Vertu, and Portrait Miniatures,” May 24, 2004, lot 131, https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4280921; John Smart, Mrs. John Richardson, née Harriet Emma Burnaby, 1794, watercolor on ivory, 3 in. (7.6 cm) high, sold at Christie’s, London, “Centuries of Style: Silver, European Ceramics, Portrait Miniatures and Gold Boxes,” November 27, 2012, lot 402, https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5628539; John Smart, Lieutenant General John Richardson (d. 1828), 1794, watercolor on ivory, 2 15/16 in. (7.5 cm) high, “Important Gold Boxes, Objects of Vertu, and Portrait Miniatures,” May 24, 2004, lot 129, https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4280919.

9. John Smart, Charlotte Porcher, née Burnaby, 1788, watercolor on ivory, 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm), sold at Christie’s, London, “Centuries of Style, Silver, European Ceramics, Portrait Miniatures and Gold Boxes,” November 26, 2013, lot 165, https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5743532.

10. The Porchers’ first child, Thomas, was born in 1788; burial record of Thomas Du Pré Porcher, September 23, 1812, Fort William, Bengal, India, FHL film no. 498610, India, Select Deaths and Burials, 1719–1948, digitized on ancestry.com.

11. Their daughter Rebecca Emma Porcher was baptized in London on February 11, 1798, with a birthdate of August 9, 1797; “Rebecca Emma Porcher,” Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975, FHL film no. 580906, 580907, digitized on ancestry.com. Porcher’s HEIC retirement was not official until 1800, however; Charles C. Prinsep, Record of Services of the Honourable East India Company’s Civil Servants in the Madras Presidency, from 1741 to 1858 (London: Trübner, 1885), 115–16.

12. Thorne, “PORCHER, Josias Du Pré.”

13. Du Pré Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon, the only son of James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon, was named for Josias Du Pré Porcher and worked to elect Porcher to his various parliamentary seats. P. J. Jupp, “Alexander, Du Pre, second earl of Caledon,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, last updated January 3, 2008, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/93359.

14. Porcher’s constituencies were Bodmin (1802–6), Bletchingley (1806–January 1807), Dundalk (January 20, 1807), and Old Sarum (1807–18). Thorne, “PORCHER, Josias Du Pré.”

15. “Charlotte Burnaby Porcher,” Find A Grave, accessed October 1, 2024, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/233508901/charlotte-porcher.

16. Three of their eight children, Thomas (1789–1812), George, and Henry (1789–1812), were baptized at Fort St. George, Madras; India, Select Deaths and Burials, 1719–1948, digitized on ancestry.com. Subsequent children born in England included Rebecca Emma (1798–1816), born on August 9, 1798; Charles (1800–1863), in May 1800; Hannah Louisa, November 10, 1801; Madeline Louisa, in 1804; and Eleanor Eliza in 1808; Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975, digitized on ancestry.com. I am grateful to intern Hailey Slaughter for her indefatigable research support on the Porchers and their many children.

17. Porcher’s gravestone states that he died “25^th April, 1820, aged 59.” “Josias Dupre [sic] Porcher,” Find a Grave, accessed October 1, 2024, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/233508664/josias-dupre-porcher. This contradicts his History of Parliament entry, which records the date of his death as May 4, 1820; this is more likely the date he was buried. Thorne, “PORCHER, Josias Du Pré.”

Elsie Gertrude Kehoe (1888–1967), Cliffe Dene, Saltdean, Sussex, England, 1950 [1];

Purchased from her sale, Objects of Vertu, Fine Watches, Etc., Including The Property of Mrs. W. D. Dickson; also Fine Portrait Miniatures Comprising The Property of Mrs. Kehoe, Sotheby’s, London, June 15, 1950, lot 175, as Josias Dupré Porcher, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1950–1958 [2];

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.

Notes

[1] Elsie Gertrude Noble married Bartle Charles Philip Kehoe (1886–1949) in 1913 in Salford, Lancashire. The couple lived at 29 Harrington Gds., South Kensington in 1927; 1 Royal Crescent, Marine Parade, Brighton in 1929; and Roedean Crescent, “Four Winds” in 1939. Bartle’s job was “managing director public works contractor.” Elsie and Bartle traveled internationally; passenger lists show they traveled from Genoa, Italy, to Southampton in December 1927 and again in November 1929 (they were away for about a month in 1929). Bartle’s profession is also listed as, “Civil Engineer,” “Director,” and “Director Coy.” All according to records found on Ancestrylibrary.com. They do not appear to have had children. Bartle died November 2, 1949. According to his will, his effects were £10,665. See UK Probate Search: Kehoe, 1950, p. 26, https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=kehoe&yearOfDeath=1950#calendar. Elsie died at 60 Greenways Ovingdean, Brighton on December 16, 1967. Her effects totaled £9,738.

Martha Jane Starr’s correspondence to her friend, Betty Hogg, from March 22, 1949: “A Mrs. Kehoe is a collector over there [London] and I was referred to her last year and just recently she mailed me a catalogue from Agnew with the sale prices of miniatures paid and some fine ones went very reasonably in comparison with American prices. If the distance isn’t too great perhaps you could phone or contact her for her opinion on the numbers and portraits I’m listing.” An undated letter from Mrs. Hogg, following an auction “. . . your lots 25 and 48 had me worried they seemed so popular! I did not call Mrs. Kehoe for I thought she might be a competitor and bid against me!!” The Starrs mentioned them in Antiques magazine in 1961 (p. 440): “A Mr. and Mrs. Kehoe of Brighton gave us gracious hospitality while showing us theirs [collection of miniatures].” With thanks to Maggie Keenan for this research on Elsie Kehoe and untangling the relationship between Mrs. Kehoe and the Starrs, who considered themselves rival collectors.

[2] The joint lot of Josias Porcher and his wife Charlotte is illustrated and described in the catalogue as “a superb pair of miniatures, by John Smart, signed and dated 1787, of Josias Dupré Porcher and his wife, Charlotte, the former three-quarters sinister, powdered hair en queue, in white cravat and vest, and grey-brown coat; his wife three-quarters dexter, with a mass of curly hair falling to her shoulders, in a cream dress edged with pale blue, both with monograms at the back, narrow ovals, 2 3/8 in. . . . J. D. Porcher was Mayor of Madras in 1792, returned to England 1800, Member of Parliament for Bodmin, Bletchingley, and Dundalk, 1802–1818, Privy Councillor Decembre, 1818; died Winslade House, near Exeter, April 25th, 1820. His wife, the second daughter of Admiral Sir William Burnaby, Bt., married J. D. Porcher at St. Mary’s, Fort St. George, Madras, on November 1st, 1787.” Archival research has shown that Leggatt Brothers served as purchasing agents for the Starrs. See correspondence between Betty Hogg and Martha Jane Starr, May 15 and June 3, 1950, Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.

John Smart: Virtuoso in Miniature, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, December 21, 2024–January 4, 2026, no cat., as Portrait of Josias Du Pré Porcher.

John Smart, Portrait of Charlotte Porcher, 1787, watercolor on ivory, sight: 2 5/16 x 1 11/16 in. (5.9 x 4.3 cm), framed: 2 1/2 x 1 13/16 in. (6.4 x 4.6 cm), Gift of the Starr Foundation, Inc., F65-41/28.

“Advertisement,” Burlington Magazine 92, no. 567 (June 1950): iii, (repro.), as Josias Dupré Porcher, Mayor of Madras.

Catalogue of Objects of Vertu, Fine Watches, Etc., Including The Property of Mrs. W. D. Dickson; also Fine Portrait Miniatures Comprising The Property of Mrs. Kehoe (London: Sotheby’s, June 15, 1950), 23, (repro.) as Josias Dupré Porcher.

Daphne Foskett, John Smart: The Man and His Miniatures (London: Cory, Adams, and Mackay, 1964), 19, 72, as Josias Du Pré Porcher.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 117, pp. 42, 31, (repro.), as Unknown Man.