Captain Robert Henry Mockler, 44th (Bengal) Native Infantry, 1841 (c)

Oil on board by unknown artist, 1841 (c).

India represented a land of opportunity for many young 'gentlemen' whose families had given them a good education, but little money. Mockler, who had at least one other brother serving in India, was the son of a Church of Ireland clergyman. This extraordinary portrait gives the impression of aloofness and diffidence, and was perhaps painted by someone who knew Mockler well.

It is possible that this painting was completed while Mockler was on furlough, or long leave, in Britain. It may have been a memento for his family in Ireland, who would not see him again until his second furlough in 1846. The distance from Britain to India, in an age when slow sailing ships were the only means of travel, and tropical diseases took a steady toll on travellers, meant that a departure for India was often a permanent one.