Lot Essay
Formerly described as a copy of a lost work, the signature on this painting has not previously been recorded. When allowance is made for condition, there seems no reason to doubt that this is a substantially autograph work of circa 1750. It can be compared with other portraits by the artist of the same period, for example those of Thomas Dawson, later Viscount Cremorne (Private Collection) and Ralph Howard, later 1st Viscount Wicklow (J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky).