Sir George Thomas Staunton (1781–1859), Writer and Sinologist

Sir George Thomas Staunton, 2nd Baronet, a sinologist and writer who had traveled to China as a boy in Lord Macartney"s famous embassy of 1793, appears in this 1820 portrait in the Government Art Collection. Staunton learned Chinese during the embassy and later became one of Britain"s few experts on Chinese language and culture, translating the Qing legal code into English. He served as an MP and was a founding member of the Royal Asiatic Society.

The portrait presents the scholar-diplomat with an intellectual bearing appropriate to a man who bridged European and Chinese cultures. Shee"s handling is professional, with the dark palette and warm flesh tones of his standard format. The face shows the distinctive character of a man whose unusual education and experiences set him apart from Shee"s typical establishment sitters.