This painting is a portrait of Thomas Lowth Harington who was promoted to captain in the 5th Bengal Light Cavalry on 6 Mar 1846. It is a copy of a print produced by Ackermann of Henry Martens’ artwork that was published in March 1845. Martens’ print is of an officer of the 7th BLC showing red facings (should be orange), but this painting of Captain Harington has altered the horse from grey to bay and the shabraque and sabretache devices to those used by the 5th BLC. The rider wears medals and has the black facings of the 5th BLC. The face is distinctive and not painted in Martens’ style which indicates that this was painted by another artist.
The medals are the Kabul medal and the Punniar Star. The tassels and flounders of his gold cap-lines are hooked to the centre of his chest to allow the medals to be seen. The Martens print shows them to be hooked up to the left shoulder. The plume on his shako could be horsehair whereas the print shows feathers which agrees with most portraits. The sabretache is an accurate depiction, and the shabraque has very different devices on the front and rear, laurel wreaths encircling BLC, as opposed to the Ackermann print that has royal cyphers with a scroll beneath. The figures in the background are wearing dress jackets with black facings, and black pouch-belts. But the shakos appear to have peaks which were not worn by the Indian ranks of the light cavalry.
