An informal portrait of the painter (Sir) Charles Lock Eastlake (1793-1865) when young, shown drawing by lamplight, apparently on a dining table in a domestic interior. Eastlake is working from a subject held in front of him in a light box that casts his shadow atmospherically on the wall behind. His dress suggests a date of about 1829-30, and the drawing was probably made in London after his return from 14 years working in Italy. It is inscribed and initialled in the lower right, ‘Chas Eastlake by SP’.

Prout (1782 - 1852) and Eastlake both came from Plymouth and attended the grammar school there. Prout was ahead of Eastlake and, though he subsequently left Plymouth, returned there in 1805-08 when Eastlake was one of his drawing pupils. Prout is almost entirely known as an influential and admired topographical and marine draughtsman and watercolourist, not as a portrait artist. This is an unusual item reflecting his friendship with a pupil who became a leader of the mid-Victorian art establishment, including as a painter and writer on art, first Keeper of the National Gallery and President of the Royal Academy.