Young Mr. Garrow with a Squirrel (1765) or Andrew Buchan, re-incarnated

[joyful_molly]

Regular readers of this journal will be acquainted by now with Mr. William Garrow, groundbreaking British lawyer, as portrayed by the very dashing Andrew Buchan in the highly successful BBC TV series “Garrow’s Law” (no, I don’t get paid to promote it. I just really love that show).

Here’s a picture of Mr. Garrow/Buchan (without a squirrel, as

Comments

[eglantine_br]

I love Copley. And this is one of my favorites. This boy is so sweet and looking so wonderingly at the world, and his little squirrel is just a baby too. (Either that or it is actually a chipmunk.) I love the way that Copley made the light on the boys ear. And the shine on the desk, and the pink of the collar. I could go on, but better not.

Yes. It could be a young Mr. Garrow. Or it could be a young Henry Clayton. Either way, really nice.

[anteros_lmc]

I'm not familiar with Copley at all! This is a lovely portrait and it certainly bears a striking resemblance to young Mr Garrow. (Although I could believe it to be Clayton too :)

[eglantine_br]

Copley is well worth looking into. He painted the snooty fortunate of revolutionary New England, but he did it with such a gentle eye that there is a poignant quality to them. We can see the illusions that they had about themselves and their lasting importance. But it is kind.

Also, he was unusually good with babies and kids -- which I think was a weak spot in the art of the time.

The Boston Museum of Art has a bunch of his work, I have been many times, though years ago now.

And I have a giant book of Copley's work.

I had actually thought I might write a child-Clayton piece based on the boy with the squirrel. Has not happened yet though.

(I really think that little beast might be a chipmunk. Although I am sure Copley knew the difference. What do you think?)

[anteros_lmc]

Ooh thank you! That's fascinating. I must look Mr Copley up. If all his paintings are as delightful as this then he had a very sympathetic eye.

(Sad to say I have never met a chipmunk in real life but the little beastie doesn't look much like the squirrels we get round these parts!)

[fiona2001]

Gosh, that's soooo uncanny! Perhaps you ought to send it to young master Garrow/Buchan, I'm sure he'd be as delighted as the rest of us! It's pretty cool having fine art that looks just like oneself!

[joyful_molly]

The boy's name is Henry Pelham, who knows, maybe there've been some Pelham-anchestors in the Buchan family? :-D That would be neat.

Perhaps you ought to send it to young master Garrow/Buchan, I'm sure he'd be as delighted as the rest of us!

Hehe - I can imagine the scene at the pub. "You won't believe what happened to me. There was some crazy random person from the internet, sending me a picture of myself back in 1765 with a squirrel - do you think it's time for a restraining order?!"

[fiona2001]

Yes indeed, after too many a pint of shandy!
Do you know if there are any paintings of Master Pelham as an adult? Would be interesting to see if the likeness persists.

[joyful_molly]

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything. You only get Henry Pelhamm, the Prime Minister. :/ Maybe he shared the dislike of many painters for self-portraits. A pity, I'd loved to see what he looked like as an adult.

[classics_lover]

Oh, my God that LIKENESS!

So reincarnation really *does* happen! LOL!

I'm reminded of Blackadder Back and Forth - "There's always a Baldrick, there's always a Blackadder..."

[joyful_molly]

It's uncanny, isn't it? At first I thought it had been a photoshopped picture of a fan! (I'm an art peasant, I'm afraid!) The boy is called Henry Pelham, he was Copley's half-brother and later also became a painter, engraver and cartographer. At the time of the painting, he was ten or eleven years old.

He later moved to Ireland, by the way, so at least the family was on the right continent to make a family connection possible! He drowned in the River Kenmare, poor bloke.

"There's always a Baldrick, there's always a Blackadder..."

and there will always be a Buchan - it must be the "B"s!

[chloe_amethyst]

There is an historic 17th century plantation home called Sully about 10 minutes drive from me. One of the young sons who lived there when it was built had a pet albino squirrel that ran about the place and was mentioned in an uncle's diary. When you tour the house now, they have an old stuffed white squirrel (not made from the original squirrel, thank heavens) in the parlor peeping out from behind a chair leg. I guess they didn't know about hamsters back then. ;-)

[joyful_molly]

That's a neat idea! :-D How many people have screeched so far because they thought it was a rat? Hehe!

After my experiences with Kelly the Monster Hamster (note: NEVER look after your friend's hamster. Don't.) I'm all for squirrels. Hamsters are sneaky little beasts, cute as they are. Your icon is adorable, by the way! Awww...

[nodbear]

Lovely observation ( such a chore to have to examine photos of Andrew Buchan in such detail>....)

and it si just right it is true .

As a gardener in SE England am a bit of a squirrel hater but will amke an exception for this one

the young man rather looks like he is going to grow up to be a campaigner .
talking of which after yout recent oubirsts on the subject of
POTC4 the BBC should be afraid be very afraid of Molly with a rusty pitchfork !

thanks for this very much though!

[joyful_molly]

such a chore to have to examine photos of Andrew Buchan in such detail

Oh yes, it's terrible. Nobody knows how I suffer. Oh, the hardship!

We don't really have problems with squirrels here; mostly it's the red variety, and they don't turn up in millions. But when I was in Vancouver and visited the university campus, I've been chased by squirrels. My word, never have I seen such a big number of squirrels in one place, and they were not afraid at all! On my next trip to Canada, I'll take the cats along. (Though, considering what a tiny thing Buttons is, the squirrels would probably put a saddle on him and ride across the campus...!)

The BBC doesn't have to fear anything as long as I get my yearly dose sof Garrow, Antiques Roadshow, Being Human and Sherlock. See? I'm not demanding at all! ;)