Thomas Dawson, Lord Cremorne

Thomas Dawson, Lord Cremorne, painted in 1800, was an Irish politician who served as a commissioner of revenue and was created Baron Cremorne in the Irish peerage. By 1800 Dance-Holland had essentially retired from professional practice, having been elected Member of Parliament for East Grinstead in 1790, making this a very late work—painted when the artist was in his late sixties. Cremorne, his Irish title honoring the Chelsea pleasure garden that occupied his family's London land holdings, represents the aristocratic-political class at whose periphery Dance moved in his parliamentary years. The late date makes this work a document of Dance's sustained social connections even after his withdrawal from professional practice.

The late portrait displays a somewhat more summary technique than Dance-Holland's earlier Academy-period work, with broader handling and less emphasis on the minute detail of costume and accessories.