PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN, BELIEVED TO BE NICHOLAS PEARSE (1719-1798), HALF-LENGTH, IN A BLUE COAT AND RED WAISTCOAT

ROMNEY'S STUDIO LEDGER RECORDS A MR. PEARSE VISITING ON 11 MARCH 1795 AND PAYING HALF THE AMOUNT FOR HIS PORTRAIT. THIS MR. PEARSE IS NOT RECORDED IN WARD AND ROBERTS, ROMNEY, A BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL RAISONNé OF HIS WORKS (1904), ALTHOUGH THEY DO LIST THE SITTINGS OF A MR. (POSSIBLY JOHN) PEARCE OF LINCOLNS INN SQUARE (P. 119) WHO HAD ORDERED TWO COPIES OF HIS PORTRAIT TO BE SENT TO YORKSHIRE. A NOW LOST LABEL ON THE REVERSE OF THIS PICTURE DESCRIBED BEING SENT TO WAKEFIELD, YORKSHIRE.