PORTRAIT OF A BOY, FULL-LENGTH, IN A PALE RED SILVER EMBROIDERED COAT, WAISTCOAT, AND BREECHES, WITH A SPANIEL, A STAFF IN HIS RIGHT HAND AND A TRICORN ON THE GROUND AT HIS FEET, BY A PLINTH IN A WOODED LANDSCAPE

THIS PORTRAIT HAS IN THE PAST BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A PORTRAIT OF THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD AND BEARS A HANDWRITTEN LABEL ON THE REVERSE OF THE FRAME TO THIS EFFECT. HOWEVER, THE PORTRAIT IS DATED 1738 AND THIS MAKES SUCH AN IDENTIFICATION IMPOSSIBLE AS PHILIP DORMER, 4TH EARL OF CHESTERFIELD WAS BORN IN 1694 AND DIED IN 1773. NOR CAN IT BE A PORTRAIT OF HIS ONLY SUCCESSOR, PHILIP, WHO SUCCEEDED AS 5TH EARL OF CHESTERFIELD FOR HE WAS NOT BORN UNTIL 1755.

WILLIAM VERELST, WHO WAS PROBABLY THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF THE PORTRAIT PAINTER JOHN VERELST (FL. 1698-1734), AND SON OF THE FLOWER PAINTER CORNELIUS VERELST (1667-1728), WHOSE FATHER HARMAN VERELST HAD WORKED IN ENGLAND FROM 1683, WAS THE BEST PORTRAITIST OF THE VERELST FAMILY, PAINTING BOTH LIFE SIZE PORTRAITS SUCH AS THIS, AND SMALLER SCALE CONVERSATION PIECES.