(Updated June 2019) A three-quarter-length portrait of traditional 'kit-cat' size (36 x 28 inches). Pearson sits to the left in captain's (over three years) full-dress uniform, 1774–87, with a tie wig, and a sword visible on the right. He holds his hat in his left hand. As a lieutenant in the East Indies he did well during the Seven Years War, where he was severely wounded. He was subsequently unable to obtain a commission because his senior officers twice died before they could fulfil their promises. He finally obtained post rank as a captain in 1773. In 1779, in command of the 'Serapis', 44 guns, and escorting a large convoy from the Baltic, he was attacked off Flamborough Head by an American rebel squadron under John Paul Jones in the 'Bonhomme Richard', 42 guns. This famous action ended in Pearson surrendering the 'Serapis' to Jones but not before his spirited defence had covered the escape of the valuable convoy. For this reason he was considered a hero. He was knighted, received presents from the merchants and the freedoms of several towns. This portrait was painted soon after this famous action and exhibited at the Royal Academy (as ‘Portrait of Capt. Pearson, late of the Serapis’) in 1780, when it was also engraved in mezzotint by James Watson. The mezzotint was published by Boydell on 1 November 1780 as a pair with one after Grignion's portrait of Captain George Farmer (which had been exhibited at the RA in 1778 and is now in the National Portrait Gallery). For the two prints, see PAG6452 and PAG9321. In 1800, Pearson became Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital in succession to Captain William Locker. The artist, Charles Grignion, was the son of Thomas Grignion, a London mathematician and watchmaker. As a child his drawing attracted the attention of Reynolds and in 1765 he obtained a premium from the Society of Arts, before becoming a pupil of Giovanni Battista Cipriani at the age of 13. Two years later the Society awarded him a silver palette for the best drawing of the human figure. In 1769 he entered the Royal Academy schools, won a gold medal there in 1776 and was sent on an Academy pension to study in Rome in 1781. He remained in Italy for the rest of his life as an artist, art dealer and guide to Grand Tourists, but he also sent back work for exhibition at the Academy including a 'Death of Captain Cook' in 1783. Nelson sat to him for a drawn portrait at Palermo in 1799 (see PAF4381) and he also painted the Hamiltons. He died and was buried at Leghorn in November 1804. He is sometimes referred to as 'junior', distinguishing him from his uncle Charles Grignion (d. 1810), who was an engraver, as was another relative, Reynolds Grignion (d. 1787).