Harry Peckham, Esq. (1740–1787), Recorder of Chichester (1785)

Harry Peckham, Esq. (1740–1787), Recorder of Chichester, was painted by Romney in 1778 at the height of the portraitist's productive maturity. Peckham's role as Recorder — the senior legal officer of the city of Chichester, responsible for presiding over the quarter sessions and advising the mayor — places him among the legal-professional class that formed an important constituency of Romney's patronage. The Council Chamber and Assembly Room at Chichester holds the work in the civic context for which it was probably made: a commemorative portrait for the institution the sitter served, part of the tradition of civic portrait galleries that documented the succession of local officials. Romney's ability to convey professional dignity and intellectual competence within an efficient, pleasing format made him the natural choice for such commissions.

A portrait made for civic display would typically present the sitter in formal professional dress, positioned with the kind of composed authority appropriate to a legal officer. Romney's characteristic approach — clear light, confident handling, the face rendered with more care than the costume — would be particularly suited to the conventional requirements of civic portraiture, where the goal was collective recognition of a representative figure rather than intimate psychological exploration.