Date: 1859

Medium: Oil on canvas

Measurements: H 250 x W 158 cm (E)

Artist: Solomon Cole

Work type: Painting

Acquisition method: unknown acquisition method

This painting was presented to the City of Worcester in November 1859 with much attendant pomp and ceremony. Berrow’s Journal at the time said that the portrait, which is life-size, represents Alderman Padmore sitting in the drawing room of his house at Henwick, through the open window of which a beautiful view is obtained of the fair Sabrina and its verdant meads, the railway viaduct, the graceful spire of St. Andrew’s, and the tower of the venerable Cathedral in the far distance.

The artist Mr. Solomon Cole has succeeded in producing an admirable likeness. The artist Solomon Cole was a portrait painter who worked in Worcester and London. In Worcester, he was a pupil of Thomas Baxter and he succeeded Baxter as the main figure painter (with Thomas Lowe) at the Flight and Bar Worcester Porcelain factory (from 1821-1840). He also exhibited 16 portraits at the Royal Academy.

Photo credit: artuk.org

Location: Guildhall Ground Floor – Lower Hall