portrait of commander george tcp swabey, rn

Commander George TCP Swabey was appointed Commodore at the Royal Naval College Greenwich after the war and then Commodore New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy.

The uniform is that of a Royal Navy officer. It is a full dress coat with an epaulette on each shoulder which displays the rank. The insignia appears to be a Crown and a Foul Anchor which was the rank of a Commander. It may be that other elements of the rank insignia are not visible from the artist?s perspective. Two other ranks, Captain and Commodore also wore rank insignia which included the Foul Anchor.The sitter is of indeterminate middle age. It is therefore likely to be a portrait of an officer holding, or who has held, a senior appointment. Within the military such a portrait is usually commissioned during the time spent at the senior appointment of a career. Therefore it may be presumed that the officer achieved the rank of Commander, Captain or Commodore. The medals in order are, the Distinguished Service Order, either the 1914 or much more likely the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and Chevalier de l?Ordre Royal, Imp?rial et National de la L?gion d''Honneur, 2?me R?publique. The medal is the 1870-1951 issue.The three Great War service medals suggest that the officer served at Gallipoli and date the picture to no earlier than March 1919 when the Royal Navy began to receive their medals. The DSO adds little to the identification. The award was instituted in 1886 to recognise meritorious or distinguished service in war by officers. There were 826 Companions created in the Royal Navy between 1914 and 1920 so there is quite a large field from which to choose. The L?gion d''Honneur may help as only 10 officers received the award having previously been made a Companion of the DSO and having no other medals for distinguished service during the war. Of those only two finished the war with the combination of medals shown and achieved high rank.We are grateful to Lieutenant Colonel Robin Hodges for his help in identifying this portrait.

Antiques.co.uk Ref: 3WE5QPUD

Materials:

Pencil and Watercolour

Width (cm):

47.24 x 37.08 cm 18.60 x 14.60 ins

Make an Offer Delivery Costs

Artware Ltd

Artware Fine Art specialises in fine antique, decorative and historical portraits and topographical pictures . We cover a period from the 17th and 18th centuries through to the 19th & 20th Centuries. We have over 150 portraits in stock, which can be viewed on our web site, each historical portrait has well researched biographical information both on the sitter and the artist.

Contact details