A landscape with a shepherd and his dog, his flock resting by a dune in the foreground

John Hayes (private communication, 16 December 2004) commented that this picture is 'in style and subject close to a series of small landscapes that Gainsborough exhibited in his studio at Schomberg House, Pall Mall, in 1786'. The simple composition with the centrally-placed shepherd and his dog can be compared with the small landscape, of similar dimensions (11 7/8 x 13 7/8 in.), in the City Art Gallery, Manchester (1786; see J. Hayes, The Landscape Paintings of Thomas Gainsborough, A Critical Text and Catalogue Raisonné, London, 1982, pp. 542-543, no. 163).