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…
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John Tait and His Grandson

Sir Henry Raeburn (Scottish, 1756 - 1823)

c. 1793, with additions c. 1800

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 126 x 100 cm (49 5/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
Culture
British
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CAB
Credit line
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art

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