(1741 - 1820), o. s. of Sir Lawrence Dundas of Kerse, Stirling; educ. Eton and St Andrews 1756; MP 1763 - 94; Dilettanti 1764; m. 1764 Ldy. Charlotte Fitzwilliam, dau. of 1st E. Fitzwilliam; FRS 1768; suc. fa. 1781 as 2nd Bt.; FSA 1784; cr. B. Dundas of Aske 1794.
1762 - 3 Turin (Apr./May 1762), Venice (19 Jul. - 7 Sep.), Florence (Sep. 1762 - ), Rome (by Feb. - Mar. 1763), Venice (Apr. - May) [England Aug.]
Thomas Dundas was in Italy while his father Sir Lawrence Dundas was independently commissioning purchases from England. Thomas was a comparatively modest collector, his interest being primarily in architecture, which he was to study in Rome.1 At Turin, Dundas, who was travelling with Mr Goguel, a 'Lorrainer', obtained a letter of recommendation for Horace Mann,2 and he probably bought the ivory inlaid tops for which Langlois made commodes in 1763 - 4.3 He spent the summer in Venice,4 and was at Florence in September, giving 'Grandi Accademie di Musica' and intending to pass the winter there with Lord Fordwich (later 3rd Earl Cowper) and Lord Warkworth (later 2nd Duke of Northumberland).5 By February 1763 he was in Rome, where Mrs Robert Strange expressed the hope that 'Sir Laurence Dundas's son' would behave 'as one of the [politically?] prudent ones'.6 He visited the studio of Nathaniel Dance (who described him as a 'a very rich scotch gentleman')7 and he also sat to Batoni for a splendid full-length portrait (dated 1764; Clark/Bowron 278; priv. coll.) and bought a Holy Family by Batoni in 1763.8 He acquired a Sleeping Cupid by Guido Reni through Robert Strange (although Dennistoun, describing the transaction c.1762 - 3, confuses Dundas with his father).9 In March his father was expecting 'Thomie' to leave Rome directly for Paris,10 and he was in Venice at the end of April.(11) He was still there a month later, when he attended Lord Northampton's entry to the city (29 - 30 May),12 but he returned to England in August 1763.(10)
On 15 December 1770 Thomas Dundas made a payment of £;50 to James Byres, conceivably for commissions left in Italy13 and he later paid for George Cuitt and Thomas Harrison to study in Italy.
1. D. Sutton, Apollo, 86[1967]:169. Yorkshire Houses, no.31. 2. SP 105/314, f.156 (G. Pitt, 11 May 1762). 3. Letter in RBF. 4. ASV IS 958. 5. Abercairny MSS 391 (Abb? St Gilles, Florence, '12 9bre 1762');. 6. Dennistoun, 1:307 (26 Feb. 1763). 7. Dance letters MSS (6 Feb. 1763). 8. Clark/ Bowron, p.368. 9. Dennistoun, 2:5 - 6. 10. E. Harris, Apollo, 86[1967]:188n12. 11. SP 105/315, f.112 (Murray, 30 Apr. 1763). 12. W.B. Compton, History of the Comptons, 187. 13. Aske MSS, N.Yorks RO (bank bk. of Thomas Dundas).