About this lot

Description

Attributed to William Jones of Bath (fl. 1764-1782)

Portrait of a young man carrying a basket of fruit
oil on canvas
90 x 73cm



This composition is known from a signed original by William Jones of Bath, now in the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. The young man depicted in the present painting, one and the same person in the work in the Victoria Art Gallery, whilst clearly a servant, is finely dressed, interestingly in closer to 16th century attire than the dress of period. According to the catalogue of the portrait in the Victoria Art Gallery, it is possible that the sitter actually worked at the Pump Room at Bath, during the time that the English nobility and aristocracy frequented the waters there and were painted by Thomas Gainsborough.



The painting is executed in oil on a canvas support which has been lined. The canvas tension is good and the picture is in plane. The paint layer has a network of age cracks which have started to lift and flake in some areas, mainly in the lower section. There are numerous scuffs and scrapes across the surface which have caused loss. The varnish has yellowed with age but is even and semi-glossy. There is a light layer of surface dirt present.

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