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A brilliant linguist, Rich joined the East India Company in 1804 and was appointed Resident at Baghdad in 1808. Here, in addition to his official duties, he collected coins, rare manuscripts and other material with the eventual aim of compiling a history of the area. He visited the site of Babylon on a number of occasions and published ‘Memoirs’ on the ruins. His account of time spent in Kurdistan was published in 1836. He had a promising career with the Company ahead of him but in 1821 he died of cholera at Shiraz. His collection of medals, coins, gems and engraved tablets was bought by the Museum from his widow, Mary, daughter of the governor of Bombay, Sir James Mackintosh, whom he had married in 1808. This laid the foundations of the British Museum’s Assyrian collections.
Title
Claudius James Rich (1786/1787–1821)
Date
1825
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 76.5 x W 63.4 cm
Accession number
Painting.22
Acquisition method
gift from the sitter's widow, Mrs Mary Rich, 1825; on loan to the British Library, since 1990
Work type
Painting
British Museum
Great Russell Street, London, Greater London WC1B 3DG England
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William Scott (1745–1836), Baron Stowell, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford -
William Wyndham Grenville (1759–1834), 1st Lord Grenville Examination Schools, University of Oxford -
Joseph Allen (1770–1845), Fellow, Bishop of Bristol (1834–1836), Bishop of Ely (1836–1843) Trinity College, University of Cambridge -
Sir William Seymour, Chief Justice of Bombay Oriel College, University of Oxford -
Reginald Heber (1783–1826), Bishop of Calcutta (1822–1826) British Library -
The Most Honourable Charles Watton-Wentworth (1730–1782), 2nd Marquess of Rockingham Doncaster Mansion House -
Dr John Richard Farre (1775–1862), Co-Founder of the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - 182 more