Daniel Pinder, Deputy

Daniel Pinder served as Deputy of the City of London — a specific administrative role in the Ward system that governed the City's medieval corporation. The Guildhall Art Gallery holds this portrait alongside hundreds of other works connected to City of London governance and history, making it part of one of the most coherent collections of British civic portraiture anywhere. The City of London's civic portrait tradition was centuries old by Opie's time, and his appointment to paint a Deputy reflects his standing in London's professional portrait market. Pinder's role as Deputy would have given him responsibility for ward administration and liaison between local citizens and the Court of Aldermen — a position of practical importance if not glamour.

Civic portraits for the Guildhall collection typically follow established conventions: formal dress appropriate to the subject's official role, a dignified bearing, and straightforward presentation. Opie's characteristic bold modelling gives these institutional subjects more visual energy than the formulaic treatment they sometimes received from lesser painters.