James Clay, MP (1804-1873)

British (English) School. Oil painting on canvas, James Clay, MP (1804-1873), British School, circa 1830/35. Black double-breasted coat buttoned high with red and white flower in buttonhole. Two rings on right hand, one on left. A nearly three-quarter length portrait of Clay as a young man, seated slightly right, in red upholstered chair, head facing, wearing black, red and white (party?) favour pinned to his bust. The sitter was a contemporary of Ralph Disraeli's at Winchester, and of William George Meredith's at Oxford, whom they met at Malta, and who became their travelling-companion in the Levant, in 1830-31, despite the disapproval of Disraeli's family. As Robert Blake memorably puts it ('Disraeli, 1966, p.62): "Clay was a handsome youth, with the complexion of a ripe peach. He had two other assets - he had chartered a 55-ton yacht, 'The Susan', and had acquired Byron's former servant, 'Tita ' Falcieri. Clay was an amusing and witty companion, but, although he later became a liberal MP and an authority on whist - achievements which seem respectable enough - he was at this stage of life a shameless roue and an unceasing pursuer of women." And Blake concludes: "their relations remained intimate long after this. They were in secret communication over the Reform Bill of 1867, and during Clay's last illness in 1873, Disraeli called every day at his house." Hughenden, Buckinghamshire (Accredited Museum)