Captain the Hon. Charles Bridgeman (1791–1860)

Captain the Honourable Charles Bridgeman was the son of the 2nd Earl of Bradford, whose family seat at Weston Park in Shropshire houses this portrait study. Hayter painted it around 1832 as part of his work documenting the political and aristocratic circles surrounding parliamentary reform. The Bridgeman family commissioned multiple works from Hayter, making Weston Park one of the richest repositories of his portrait studies. George Hayter was the preeminent British history and portrait painter of the early Victorian era, appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to Queen Victoria in 1841.

Military bearing is conveyed through the sitter’s upright posture and steady gaze, rendered in Hayter’s characteristic rapid but precise portrait manner. The palette is sober, dominated by dark coat and pale skin tones.