ملف:Portrait of Sir John Hay (1755-1830), 5th Baronet of Haystoun and Smithfield.jpg

English: Studio of Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A., P.R.S.A. (Edinburgh 1756 - 1823)

Portrait of Sir John Hay (1755-1830), 5th Baronet of Haystoun and Smithfield, bust- length

oil on canvas: 30 x 24 7/8 in.; 76.2 x 63.1 cm.

This lot is most likely a bust-length reduction made by Henry Raeburn's studio of a full-length portrait of Sir John Hay of Haystoun. Raeburn's original portrait, now lost, was exhibited in 1821 and engraved in mezzotint by Thomas Hodgetts.1

The sitter of the full-length portrait is thought to be Sir John Hay of Haystoun, as noted in a rather confusing manner in Sir Walter Armstrong's 1901 catalogue of Raeburn's work.2 Armstrong lists three Hay portraits, the first of which is described as engraved by Hodgetts. However, it seems probable that Armstrong, or even the Hay family, confused this first portrait with the third full-length portrait of Sir John Hay of Haystoun from circa 1818, which corresponds in a closer manner stylistically to the present lot and engraving.