Henry Thomson, (Portsea 1773-1843)

'Baron Williams, Colonel in the Service of Austria, Commander of the Imperial Flotillas during the late war, on the Rhine, in Switzerland'

'Baron Williams, Colonel in the Service of Austria, Commander of the Imperial Flotillas during the late war, on the Rhine, in Switzerland'
oil on canvas
236.5 x 145.9cm

Provenance:
Rev. W.B. Rally, USA, until circa 1847, by whom given to
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, by whom offered
Sale, Christie's, New York, 15 May 1996, lot 79

Exhibited:
London, Royal Academy, 1802, no.29, with above title

The present portrait is catalogued with the title the artist gave it when it was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1802. In fact when it was painted in 1799, Thomson depicted his subject as Imperial Lieutenant Colonel in the General Staff and Commander of the Austrian Imperial River Flotillas. His uniform is that of a field officer (Stabsoffizier, equivalent to Maj / Lt.-Col / Col) in the Austrian Imperial General Staff. He is shown wearing his Knights' medal of The Military Order of Maria Theresa, an order awarded for valour to senior military officers.

James Ernest Williams (1761-1804) was born in England and received some initial training in the Royal Navy, but encountered the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790) in the Austrian Netherlands in 1781 at a time when the Emperor was keen to expand the Austrian merchant navy, and Williams was recruited as an officer. A successful career followed: in 1796 Williams was appointed commander of the Rhine Flotilla and in 1797, commander of the Austrian navy at Trieste. The following year he transferred to the Austrian army in Germany.

In 1798 Switzerland was overrun by French revolutionary troops and the Helvetic Republic was declared, an ally to France; as the 2nd Coalition War began, the French held the lakefront of the Bodensee. Archduke Charles, the commander of the Austrian army in Germany, set up a flotilla on the Bodensee to secure his line of communication and to fend off possible attacks from the Swiss lakeside; Lt Col Williams was put in command of the Bodensee Flotilla, successfully defending this key area for a number of months. By the time he left active service in 1803 he had been promoted to the rank of full Colonel, but by now already seriously ill with tuberculosis, Col James Ernest Freiherr von Williams died in Vienna in 1804, having been ennobled with the title of Freiherr, or Baron, for his military services.

After graduating from the Royal Academy schools in 1790, Henry Thomson left England for Italy with his father in 1794 and visited a number of cities before establishing himself in Rome for two years. They returned to England in 1799 via Vienna where he most probably met Lt Col James Williams and painted this portrait. Although primarily a historical and portrait painter, Thomson also illustrated books and sold prints after his compositions. He exhibited regularly from 1792 until 1825, his exhibits being divided fairly equally between mythological and domestic paintings, and portraits. He was elected Royal Academician in 1804.