Portrait of Dr. William Walcot (1719-1806), half-length, in a blue coat, in a feigned oval

Details

Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (Sudbury 1727-1788 London)
Portrait of Dr. William Walcot (1719-1806), half-length, in a blue coat, in a feigned oval
oil on canvas
30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm.)

Provenance

J.C.C. Vowler Collection, by 1937.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 10 March 1965, lot 121 ($2,520 to Leger Galleries).
Julia H. Rush and Richard H. Rush Trust.

Literature

E. Waterhouse, Gainsborough, London, 1958, p. 94, no. 698.

Exhibited

London, Ministry of Works, on loan by 1937.
London, Leger Galleries, 18 November-31 December 1970.
New York, Finch College Museum of Art, The Richard H. Rush Collection, 25 February-25 April 1971, no. 39.
Hanover, Dartmouth College, Hood Museum of Art.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Sale room notice

Please note that this lot should be starred in the catalogue.

Lot Essay

Dr. William Walcot (1719-1806) was a gentleman farmer originally from Northamptonshire, who owned land outside Oundle, Ashton, Polebrook and Walsoken in Norfolk. When this portrait was sold at Sotheby's in 1965 it had an old label on the reverse, which read 'Thomas Gainsborough pinxit, Bath June 11th, 1767'. A pendant portrait of the sitter's wife (née Mary Creed), which was lot 120 in the same sale, is also recorded as being dated '1767' on the reverse (E. Waterhouse, op. cit, p. 94, no. 699). While the label on the present portrait no longer survives, the style of execution and the age of the sitter accord with this date.

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