Portrait of Charles Brudenell Bruce

This is a portrait of Charles Brudenell-Bruce, grandson of Henry Hoare of Stourhead and is a charming image of childhood. He is depicted in a dress. The age at which young boys were ‘breeched’ varied but was often around seven. Despite his rather unmasculine appearance, he grew up to be a military man and MP. William Hoare developed a close relationship with the Hoare family of Stourhead. Previously unrelated (despite the identical surnames), William Hoare’s daughter Mary married a cousin of Henry Hoare of Stourhead in 1765. From then on the families, and William Hoare and Henry Hoare in particular, became close. William Hoare produced many pastel portraits of Henry Hoare, his children and grandchildren, some of which are still on display at Stourhead.