C. Corbutt (Richard Purcell) after Gainsborough. Robert, Lord Clive, Baron of Plassey. Major General in the EAST INDIES, Governor of Bengal and Commander in Chief of the East India Company's Forces. 11 x 16 inches. Corbutt was the alias of Richard Purcell, an Irish mezzotint engraver who worked under a pseudonym to conceal his identity when copying the works of others. He came to London from Dublin and although he led a dissolute life in the capital he managed to produce an impressive number of very competent mezzotint portraits and decorative prints after his contemporaries. Lord Clive (1725-1774) is best remembered for his involvement in the East India Company through which he was responsible for securing the Indian sub-continent as part of the rapidly expanding British Empire. Under his leadership the East India Company gained political and military supremacy in Bengal bringing immense wealth back to the British crown. Along with Warren Hastings he is credited with laying the foundations of British India, a vast colony that was to play a major part in British life until its eventual independence in 1947. £425 Unframed