James Cunningham, Last Earl of Glencairn
Unidentified (British)
ca. 1790
Medium
Painting-Miniature
Classification
Painting-Miniature
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William Mouat Hannay
Accession Number
1951.3.8
Tags
aristocratbust
About this artwork
Born in Scotland, James Cunningham was the fourteenth Earl of Glencairn from 1775 until his death in 1791. Because James had no children, his brother John succeeded him, making John the last earl of Glencairn, rather than James as the title of this piece suggests. After Jamesâs death, his friend the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote âLament for James Cunningham, 14th Earl of Glencairn.â The last lines of the poem read: âThe mother may forget the child/ that smiles sae sweetly on her knee;...