Portrait of an Officer of the 15th (or King's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons, 1768 (c)

Oil on canvas by Tilly Kettle (1735-1786), 1768 (c).

The battle honour 'Emsdorf', seen on the front of this officer's helmet, was the first ever to be awarded to a British regiment. Granted by Royal Warrant in 1768, the right to bear the word on guidons and appointments was only given to the 15th (or King's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons. These helmets were made of black-enamelled copper, with a crest of red horse-hair.

The battle honour was awarded for the regiment's part in the victory at the Battle of Emsdorf (1760) during the Seven Years War (1756-1763). Serving as part of an Allied force in Germany, it successfully routed six French battalions, forcing five of them to surrender. In the action it sustained heavy casualties, losing 75 men and 116 horses killed, with a further 50 men and 52 horses wounded. After the battle, the Commander of the Allied Army, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick (1721-1792), singled out the regiment for special thanks.

This portrait must have been one of the last that the artist, Tilly Kettle, painted before he left Britain. In 1768, frustrated by the intense competition among artists in London, he petitioned the East India Company for permission to work in India. Kettle was the first established British portrait painter to work in India, where he had a flourishing career painting both Indian and European subjects.