Colonel George Smith of Burnhall

This portrait shows a young man with long hair pulled back into a ponytail. He is portrayed with distinctive facial features such as a large nose, thick lips, narrow eyes and a furrowed brow. Appropriately dressed for a portrait, he is wearing a lace collared white tunic under a brown jacket. Although the “Colonel” title given to George Smith often indicates experience and age, his appearance in this portrait is more akin to that of a young man transitioning into adulthood.

          His confident posture and pulled back hair were tropes of portraiture for the typical adult male at this time.  His gaze is indirect and his furrowed brow seems timid and worried, as if the responsibilities associated with adulthood intimidate him. The artist, J. Wright of Derby is known for representing the new middle class, which was created as a result of the Industrial Revolution, in his works. It is quite possible that Colonel Smith is a member of the new class, and the look on his face is meant to illustrate his discomfort with this social position.  He is likely to be the first of his family to experience a degree of pomp and circumstance that would have been completely foreign to him prior to this shift.

          This portrait illustrates the maturation of young men at this time and the heavy responsibilities they often faced as the sole source of income for their families.  Of course these responsibilities were entirely unequal between genders because of the limited amount of rights given to women in terms of owning property, especially in England, and in getting paid an acceptable wage for their labor.