Purpose

This decision relates to the renewal of an
existing loan of an item in the Ipswich Borough Council Museum
collections. Suffolk Record Office, The Hold, Ipswich -
(IPSMG.LO.2019.07) John Henniker-Major, 2nd Lord Henniker in the
uniform of Worlingworth Volunteers
(1801) by Mather Brown (1761-1831), oil on canvas (IPSMG:
R.1937.236)
 
The original request was made jointly by the
Suffolk Record Office and the Worlingworth Local History Group in 2020. It
proposed that the painting of ‘Lord Henniker’ would go
on display in the John Blatchly Library
of The Hold following its conservation, which would be funded by
the Worlingworth Local History Group.
The conservation has now been completed by a specialist art
conservator and consequently the painting is ready to go on public
display.
 
This loan provides an opportunity to put this
historically important work on display. Lord Henniker’s
portrait is thought to be the only surviving painting of a Suffolk
man in the uniform of a volunteer soldier at the time of the war
against Napoleon (1799-1815). The artist Mather Brown was born in
Boston, Massachusetts and was an accomplished portrait painter
whose subjects included the US president Thomas Jefferson and
George IV as Prince of Wales. The display in The Hold would be
supported by archive material from the Suffolk Record Office and
the Worlingworth Local History
Society.
 
Consultation: Ipswich Museums Manager,
Portfolio Holder for Planning & Museums, Friends of Ipswich
Museums
 
Loan commences: 1 Sept 2025 Loan ends: 1 Sept
2030 Exhibition dates: 11 Sept 2025 – 11 Sept 2030

Decision

To approve the renewal of an existing
loan.
 
Reason:
This loan provides an opportunity to put this
historically important work on display.