Hon. Edward Clive (1785–1848), later 2nd Earl of Powis

Hon. Edward Clive, later 2nd Earl of Powis, painted by Lawrence in 1803 and at the Eton College Collections, was the son of Robert Clive of India — the most celebrated and controversial figure of eighteenth-century British imperialism — and the heir to the Clive family's extraordinary wealth. Edward's inheritance of both the fortune and the posthumous reputation of his father connected him to a legacy that was simultaneously celebrated as imperial heroism and criticized as systematic plunder. The family seat at Powis Castle in Wales, combined with the English estates that Robert Clive had purchased with his Indian fortune, made the Clive-Powis family among the most substantial landowners in both countries. Eton College's collection documents this young heir at school — the normal portrait commission type for the institution's collection, documenting students and their connected families at the beginning of their adult public lives. Lawrence's handling of the young Edward Clive reflects the Eton portrait type: the easy bearing of a young man of inherited wealth and social confidence, the composition asserting future authority rather than achieved distinction.

Lawrence paints the young aristocrat with a warmth and directness that suits his age, the fresh features and confident gaze suggesting both privilege and potential. The handling is more relaxed than Lawrence's grand portraits, appropriate to a young man still finding his place in the world.