Colonel Alexander Dow (1735/6 - 1779)

Reynolds painted Colonel Alexander Dow around 1771, depicting an officer of the East India Company who was also a scholar, translator, and playwright. Dow had served in Bengal and achieved recognition for his History of Hindostan (1768-72), a pioneering English account of Mughal history that drew on Persian sources. The portrait's most striking element is the Mughal costume Dow wears — a choice that reflected both his personal engagement with Indian culture and the broader Georgian fascination with the Orient that fueled demand for portraits of men who had returned from the subcontinent. Reynolds frequently accommodated such costume choices, understanding that the exotic dress served the same Grand Manner function as classical drapery: elevating the sitter above ordinary representation into the realm of picturesque narrative. The portrait belongs to a substantial group of Reynolds's works depicting men associated with British India — nabobs, officers, and administrators who brought Eastern wealth and Eastern artefacts back to Britain in unprecedented quantities. Now in a National Trust property, the canvas documents the cultural encounter between Georgian Britain and Mughal India that would reshape both imperial policy and metropolitan taste.

The portrait combines military bearing with exotic costume. Reynolds's handling demonstrates his Grand Manner approach to portraiture, combining individual likeness with elevated treatment.