PORTRAIT OF MR BRADLEY, THREE-QUARTER LENGTH, IN A BLUE FROCK COAT AND GREY TROUSERS

Gardner received his early tuition from George Romney. He was born in Kendal, Westmorland c.1750, but moved to London at the end of the 1760s. In 1770, he enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools, where he was taught by Benjamin West and Johan Joseph Zoffany. Gardner was awarded the Silver Medal in 1771 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in the same year. On leaving the Schools, he entered the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds as his assistant.
The picture can be seen in a photograph of The State Dressing Room, in Guide to Capesthrone, 1982, p.26.