Museum number
2010.1
Object
Framed oil painting: Thomas Bowlby (1721-1795) by Thomas Gainsborough, oil on canvas 1766
Description
Head and shoulders portrait of a gentleman in a feigned oval ornamented with oak leaves. Face on, turned slightly to proper right. Simple powdered wig with black queue, eau-de-nil on white embroidered waiscoat with gold braid and buttons, textured mushroom coat with gold buttons, black chapeau bras. In a carved and gilded frame.
Materials
Oil
Inscription
"Thomas Bowlby 1766 no 4 / Said to be by Gainsborough?" inscribed in ink on paper label at bottom left of frame reverse.
On display?
Yes

Further description

Simple name
Painting
Subject
Portrait
Dimensions
framed: 4cm (d) x 93cm (h) x 81cm (w)
regular: 76.4cm (h) x 63.6cm (w)
Thomas Bowlby (1721-1795) Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) Oil on canvas, 1766 This recently rediscovered portrait is typical of Gainsborough’s work in Bath. The sitter was a civil servant and later MP for Launceston. Lord North described him as ‘a man of as upright a heart, as clear a head, and as honest a mind as anyone living’. Gainsborough painted both Bowlby and his wife when they visited Bath. He has captured Bowlby’s amiable character beautifully, as well as the extravagant details of his dress with its gold braid and minute embroidery. 2010.1 Bequest of the Bowlby Family, 2010

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