Mr Higginson

This well-drafted portrait shows a gentleman of presence in a blue coat and lemon waistcoat sporting a five o’clock shadow. He has traditionally been identified as Alexander Higginson though someone mysteriously decided at a later time to re-christen him as Mr Eliot!

The portrait is actually signed by the artist on the reverse ‘Edridge Pinxt / 1795’. This though has been later crossed out and the portrait erroneously attributed to Engleheart. It is presented in the original silver gilt frame that is enclosed on the reverse.

The eldest son of a London tradesman, Henry Edridge ARA (1769-1821) was apprenticed to an engraver and, at the age of fifteen, entered the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited miniatures and watercolour portraits between 1786 and 1821. His London studio attracted aristocratic sitters as well as artists and poets and he was regularly invited to stay at country houses where he would often draw portraits of his host’s family.