Overall: 84.5cm (33in) x 69cm (27in)
Oil on canvas. Quarter length portrait of a Piper wearing a glengarry with thistle badge, (possibly Clan Farqhuarson) plaid fastened by a silver brooch set with a Cairngorm. Signed and dated on reverse ‘Borthwick / 93’. Contained in original gilt gesso frame.
The present portrait was painted when the artist was 23 years old. According to various biographical sources he was then studying successively at Edinburgh School of Art, in Antwerp and the Acadėmie Julien in Paris under the French academic painter William-Adolphe Bougereau between 1890 and 1896.
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Alfred Edward Borthwick RSA (1871-1955) was the son of William H. Borthwick of Crookston and Borthwick Castle, Midlothian, where Mary Queen of Scots was once held captive. He painted landscapes and figure paintings but was best known as a portrait painter. He had many prominent sitters during his long career, including the Duke of Windsor when Prince of Wales (Royal Collection RCIN 406709), and a further full-length portrait of the prince in Highland dress, 1923 (Glasgow Museums).
In 1909 Borthwick became well known for his painting ‘The Presence,’ for St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, which was said to be the most reproduced picture of its time. In 1899 Borthwick put his career on hold when he volunteered for overseas service in the South African War with the Scottish Sharpshooters (70th Company, XVIII Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry). From 1902 to 1904 he was honorary secretary of the British Settlement of South Africa, where he worked with Cecil Rhodes and Lord Milner. In 1912 he was asked to assist the Scottish Remount services and in the war of 1914-1918 he again saw active service before being recalled as a liaison officer with the Ministry of Munitions, retiring from the Army in 1919 as honorary Staff Captain.
Borthwick exhibited widely; at the Paris Salon, the Royal Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy. He was President of the Society of Scottish Artists; an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1928 and a full Member in 1938. He was also an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter Etchers, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and Hon. Fellow of the Fine Arts Trade Guild. He was one of the original Members of the Scottish Modern Arts Association and a Member of the Council. He was President of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water Colours (1931 to 1950) and received the honorary degree of LL.D. from St. Andrews University in 1952. His 1955 obituary recalled him as ‘a man of distinguished appearance with a courtly manner more reminiscent of the Victorian era than of the present day. He was keenly aware of the dignity of his profession - a profession he loved and to which he devoted his whole life.’