This month we are featuring a painting in the University's fine art collection which was previously listed as 'Portrait of a Mayor' by an unknown artist.

It is not often that you get to discover an unknown sitter in a painting. However, when inspecting the painting closely, we noticed that the mayoral chain the gentleman is wearing has a round pendant depicting three towers, and the chain itself has alternate castles and crowns in the design.

Using this design as a source of information, it was discovered that this is the mayoral chain of Exeter and the pendant illustrates Exeter’s Coat of Arms.

Following this lead and with help from the extensive information on the Exeter Memories website, which lists 800 years of Mayors of Exeter we were excited to identify the painting as a portrait of Philip Foale Rowsell CBE, (1864 -1946).

The Sitter

Philip Foale Rowsell CBE was a pharmacist, insurance expert, British Liberal Party politician and a prominent figure in civic life in Exeter and Devon.

He was Mayor of Exeter from 1921 - 1923 and this painting shows him in his mayoral robes and regalia.

It is understood that during his three-year term as Mayor, his chosen charity was the Exeter Cancer Fund which raised £11,000 to equip the new X-ray, Radium and Electrical Treatment Department at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital in Exeter.

Of particular interest to the University is that he was Vice-President and Treasurer of the University College of the South West, the predecessor organisation to the University of Exeter.

The Mayoral Chain