Viscount Rhondda (1856–1918)

David Alfred Thomas, first Viscount Rhondda, was commemorated in multiple portraits reflecting his prominence in Welsh industrial, business, and political life. This version, held at the Mansion House, London, would have served the civic function of recording a figure connected to City of London commercial networks alongside his Welsh industrial interests. Solomon Joseph Solomon's portraits of Rhondda in different collections — National Museum Cardiff and Mansion House — testify to the sitter's reach across Welsh and metropolitan English elite circles. The Mansion House holds an extensive collection of civic and guild portraits, and Thomas's presence there situates him among the commercial and institutional grandees of Edwardian Britain. Solomon, as a portraitist trusted by such networks, was well placed to produce authoritative images for both Welsh national institutions and London's civic galleries.

As with the National Museum Cardiff version, this portrait would employ Solomon's characteristic warm-toned flesh with dark formal attire. Subtle differences in pose or format between the two versions would reflect the different institutional contexts for which they were painted.