Lieutenant General Talmash: 18th C. Portrait by Houbraken, 1748

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This is an 18th century copperplate engraved portrait of Lieutenant General Talmash by Jacobus Houbraken after a painting by Sir … Read more This is an 18th century copperplate engraved portrait of Lieutenant General Talmash by Jacobus Houbraken after a painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, from "The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain", published in London in 1748 by John & Paul Knapton. It depicts a bust portrait of Talmash in an ornamental oval. He is turned to his right, but he is looking directly at the viewer. His long curly hair is draped over a dark coat of armor and he has an ascot around his neck. Below the oval are military items, including a helmut, flag, dagger and a scene of men attending to a comrade wounded in a battle, perhaps representing Talmash himself, who died of his battle wounds.

Thomas Tollemache, also known as Talmash or Tolmach (1651-1694) was an English soldier and Member of Parliament. His mother was the daughter of the Earl of Dysert and was rumoured to have been a mistress of Oliver Cromwell. Throughout Tollemarche’s life that he was suspected to be the illegitimate son of Cromwell. He began his military career in 1673 and he become a charismatic military leader, who saw much success against both the Dutch and the French and also in the battles in the Mediterranean. In 1686 he resigned his commission to protest the introduction of Catholic officers into the English army by James II. A supporter of military intervention by the Protestant William of Orange, in early 1688 he joined a regiment of the Anglo-Scots Brigade, a long established mercenary unit in the Dutch army. In November 1688, he accompanied William to England in the Glorious Revolution and shortly afterwards became colonel of the Coldstream Guards, and MP for Malmesbury, England. He fought in Flanders and Ireland during the Nine Years' War, as well as being appointed Governor of Portsmouth in 1690 and elected to parliament for Chippenham in 1692. In 1694, he was badly wounded at the Battle of Camaret and he died of his injuries.

This beautifully engraved and inked portrait has wide margins, although the left margin is somewhat thinner than the left. The sheet measures 16" in height and 9.75" in width. There are two very small and faint spots in the upper margin on the right, but the print is otherwise in excellent condition. See less