The Huntsman by William Orpen.
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Mitchell (1871 – 1934) by William Orpen. Print signed by Orpen and by Mitchell “With all good wishes to you, dear Jean”.
Medium: print. Size: 30 x 24cm (11.8 x 9.4 inches). Framed Size: 47.4 x 37.2 cm (18.7 x 14.6 inches). Provenance: Private Collection.
Auction at Morgan O’Driscoll, Cork. 1st Feb 2021. Lot: 82. Estimate: €400 – €600. Sold: €460 Hammer Price.
Alexander Mitchell (1871 – 1934) was a soldier a businessman and Master of the Foxhounds (Lauderdale, Scotland).
He lived at Tulliallan, Kincardine-on-Forth, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and Monskord, St. Boswells, Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Mitchell inherited his father’s business interests. He held a number of company directorships included ones with the Alloa Coal Company (from 1898), the Alloa Glass Works Company (from 1908), the Ben Line Steamers (from 1911), and the Shotts Iron Company (from 1923). He invested in a Scottish syndicate that led the financing for a mine known as Mountain Park.
He commanded the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry in 1914. He was wounded at Gallipoli a year later. The Regiment was subsequently converted to infantry as a battalion of the 14th (Fife and Forfar Yeomanry) Battalion of The Black Watch sent to France in 1917. Mitchell finished the war as Town Commandant of Duren in Germany after the Armistice. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration in 1913.
Location of original Orpen portrait is unknown.
Post by Dominic Lee, Orpen Research Project.