Portrait of Sir Walter Ralegh, 1739

A line engraving of Sir Walter Ralegh, by Jacobus Houbraken, published I & P Knapton, London, 1739.

Image shows a full page rectangular black and white line engraving of a white middle-aged male. The bust-length image of the man is placed within an oval frame taking up the top half of the print. He is positioned with his body facing the right of the frame and looks directly at the artist. He wears a heavily embellished beaded doublet with a white frilled ruff at the neck. He has dark eyebrows and a short dark beard and moustache, and wears a black hat adorned with a feather affixed by a pearl droplet. The oval frame is placed within an architectural scene, placed upon a stone pedestal. In front of the pedestal lies a decapitated male head next to an axe, a world globe, small anchor and a robed cherub leaning against the globe writing in a book with a small inkpot in their hand. Atop the oval is a banner in which text reads: ‘Sr. Walter Ralegh’. Outside of the whole rectangular image, text beneath reads: ‘In the Possession of Peter Burrel Esqr. J. Houbraken sculpsit Amst. Impensis J. & P. Knapton Londini 1739’.

Sir Walter Raleigh (1555-1618) was born to landed gentry at Hayes Barton, near Woodbury Common and East Budleigh in Devon. In fact, a large portion of East Devon is colloquially known as ‘Raleigh Country’, ranging from the Exe estuary to Sidmouth, including many towns and villages such as Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton and Otterton. It is reputed that Raleigh was baptised in the small chapel above the porch at the Grade II* listed building of Place Court in the village of Colaton Raleigh, a house later given to the Deans of Exeter. The Raleigh’s had religious links as Walter’s father was a church warden of the East Budleigh Church of All Saints, with a dedicated pew to the Raleighs, dated 1537, found on the left side of the nave. Both his parents are buried here, and a life-size bronze statue of Raleigh, by sculptor Vivien Mallock FRBS and unveiled in 2006, can be found nearby, along with the Sir Walter Raleigh village pub. Another artwork depicting Raleigh’s local roots was painted by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais; The Boyhood of Raleigh, 1870, depicts Raleigh and his brother as children, listening intently to a sailor sat on the shoreline at Budleigh Salterton (a blue plaque commemorating this work can be found at the Octagon on Fore Street.)

Other connections to the Southwest include Raleigh’s command of defences across Devon and Cornwall in 1588 anticipating of the arrival of the Spanish Armada. A replica fire beacon stands in place of the original in the hamlet of Bozomzeal, Dittisham, near Dartmouth, to commemorate Raleigh’s stratagem to defeat the incoming invasion. He was also an MP for Devon, Dorset and Cornwall between 1584-1601. Despite Raleigh’s infamous exploits and colonisations of other countries on behalf of the monarchy, (he is credited with the introduction of potatoes and tobacco to Britain), he found himself imprisoned, twice, in the Tower of London. During this time, he wrote his incomplete The Historie of the World, first printed in 1614 (a number of copies are held by the Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter.) He was eventually executed for treason and was beheaded on 29 October, 1618. This cause of death is represented in the portrait by the sitter’s decapitated head and executioner’s axe.

The artist, Jacob (Jacobus) Houbraken, was the leading portrait engraver in 18th Century Holland. This particular portrait was included in the 1747 publication The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, Engraven by Mr. Houbraken, and Mr. Vertue, With Their Lives and Characters by Thomas Birch, A.M. F.R.S. Listed in the contents page as Sir Walter Ralegh [sic], the portrait on page 52 is accompanied by two pages of biographical information, which claim that “In the sessions of Parliament in the latter end of the same year [1583], he was elected Knight of the Shire for the county of Devon, and soon after knighted.”

The ‘Peter Burrel’ mentioned in the description is likely Peter Burrell of Langley Park, Beckenham, in Kent, who presumably owned the painting this engraving is based on. Several biographies of Raleigh and associated literature can be found in the collections at the DEI.

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