William "Midshipman" Skinner is known today through the naval engravings and lithographs produced after his work. What the publishers did with his original drawings is unknown. This fine, original, signed watercolour is inscribed on the back as a portrait of Lestock Robert Reid (12 August 1799 – 27 October 1878) a Governor of Bombay from 1846 to 1847 under the East India Company. The little biographic material about Skinner indicates that around 1835 he was in the Gulf area of South Asia as was Reid, according to his Reid's own published memoir, "Indus".They must both have been in Qatar in 1835. The recent state visit of the Emir of Qatar to the London underlined how long and close the association of Qatar with the UK has been.
Reid would have been 36 years old at the time the likeness was "taken". It is a credible portrayal of a thirty-six-year-old man and ties in with the little information we have. The inscription on the back misspells "Reid" as "Reed". It is not uncommon to know someone yet not how they spell their name.
Unframed.
Rare and perhaps unique as an autograph work by this skilled maritime artist. P.O.A. (price on application).
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