[INCORRECT IMAGE SHOWN]
A three-quarter-length portrait of Richard Howe, Earl Howe (1726–1799) in flag officer’s undress uniform, 1767–1783, gloves and a hat, holding his drawn sword in his right hand and pointing with his left hand. He stands on the deck of a ship with a view of naval engagement in the background. Lettered beneath the image with the title, ‘The Right Honble. Richard Lord Howe. Commander in Chief of his Majesty’s Fleets in America.’ Also lettered with the production detail: ‘Corbutt, delint. et fecit.’ This print was drawn and engraved by an artist signing himself ‘Corbutt’ – possibly the Irish engraver Richard Purcell, who sometimes used the pseudonym Charles or Philip Corbutt. It was published by John Morris on 10 November 1777. This impression has been cut down, removing the publication line. The composition of the print may owe something to Francis Cotes’s portrait of Captain Edward Knowles from 1761, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The plate was subsequently altered to include the name of the ‘Queen Charlotte’ in reference to Howe’s victory at the Battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794 and republished by Richard Holmes Laurie and James Whittle on 11 June 1794, just ten days after the action (see PAF3483). (Updated June 2019.)