Tilly Kettle was the first professional British artist to establish himself in India. Kettle arrived in India in May 1769 and settled in Calcutta at the end of 1772 or in early 1773. Soon after, Kettle painted a double portrait of Charles and Captain John Sealy (Courtauld Institute of Art, London). The similarity in costume and treatment between the present portrait and this double portrait suggest that Kettle was working on them simultaneously.

There is reference to the presence of both Charles Oman I of Jessore (1792-1844) and Charles Philip Austin Oman II (1825-1876) in India as indigo planters. The provenance of the present painting strongly suggests that the sitter was an as-yet unidentified member of the family also working in India.

A NOTE ON THE PROVENANCE:

Sir Roy Strong, C.H., F.R.S.L. (b. 1935) is an English art historian, former museum curator, writer, broadcaster, and garden designer. He was made Director of the National Portrait Gallery aged 32, and at 38 Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, where he stayed until 1987. Sir Roy has published extensively, and is particularly renowned for his knowledge of Elizabethan portraiture, and gardens. In 1971 he married the theatre-designer Julia Trevelyan Oman (1930-2003), and together they created the celebrated gardens at The Laskett, Much Birch, Herefordshire, which Sir Roy has recently gifted to Perennial, the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society.