"The Hermit of Tong" is a missing/lost masterpiece of the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 artist, William Armfield Hobday

William Armfield Hobday

William Armfield Hobday was an English portrait painter and miniaturist whose clientele included royalty and the Rothschild family.-Life:...

 (1771–1831). The painting is a portrait of Carolus, aka Charles Evans, resident Hermit

Hermit

A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...

 on the estate of Colonel Durant, Tong Castle

Tong Castle

Tong Castle was a very large mostly Gothic country house in Shropshire, set within a park landscaped by Capability Brown, on the site of a medieval castle of the same name....

, Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. In the biography of William Armfield Hobday, printed in Arnolds' Library of the Fine Arts in 1831, the painting and hermit are described as follows:

"If, as it is said, genius is more felicitous at one time than another, certain it is that Hobday while at Broad Street painted a picture, the like of which he never did before nor after; viz. the painting known as the Hermit of Tong, and individual passing under the name of Carolus, living on the estate of Colonel Durant in Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

 [actually, Shropshire]. This work is distinguished by a fine subdued brilliancy in the flesh, depth and transparency in the shadows, and great harmony of colouring in the whole. It represented the Hermit at the mouth of his Hermitage, the left elbow resting on a book and hand raised to the temples; the back part of his head was enveloped in a hood, and the transparency of its shadow on the upper part of the head was particularly clear, rich, and well painted, and the folds of his dark brown habit were broad and easy. Altogether this was undoubtedly his chef-d'oevre. Many were the applicants for its purchase; but, with all its Excellencies, no one would give the moderate sum he fixed, of 100 guineas

Guinea (British coin)

The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...

; and this likewise went, like all his other effects, at the sale."

The location of this portrait of the Hermit of Tong is unknown. The last mention of the painting in the literature is in the bankruptcy proceedings, sales of personal goods and effects, of William Armfield Hobday, in London, 1829.

Renewed interest in Hobday's work has created a strong drive to locate this painting, as its value has increased significantly, reputed to be worth 800,000 pounds sterling.