Thomas Hudson, (Devon 1701-1779 Twickenham)

Portrait of John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont (1711-1772)

Portrait of John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont (1711-1772)
oil on canvas
128.4 x 102.4cm (50 9/16 x 40 5/16in).

Provenance
With Leggatt Brothers, London
With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, from whom acquired by
Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, 1912, and thence by descent through the family until offered
Sale, Christie's, Cowdray Park, 13-15 September 2011, lot 296, where purchased by the present owner

Literature
Cowdray Park Catalogue, London, 1919, p. 8, no. 3
C. Anson, A Catalogue of Pictures and Drawings in the Collection of The Viscount Cowdray, London, 1971, p. 11, no. 32, pl. 31

As MP for Westminster in 1748 Perceval became a prominent supporter of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and soon became the principal adviser for the Prince's Leicester House faction as well as opposition leader in the Commons and he went on to be regarded by the Prince as his prospective prime minister. After the Prince died unexpectedly on March 20, 1751, however, Perceval allied himself with Frederick Louis's son and successor, Prince George (the future George III) and by 1765 he had become known as a leader of the 'King's Friends'. Egmont resigned from Pitt's administration in August 1766, in opposition to Pitt's plan to ally with Prussia and in the summer of 1767 he refused office in any government in which Pitt served. Egmont was a gifted pamphleteer, and his Faction Detected of 1743 is an elaborate vindication of opposition politics. His seventh son was the prime minister Spencer Perceval.