George Romney (British, 1734-1802) Portrait of a gentleman in a green jacket and white stock, head

George Romney (British, 1734-1802) Portrait of a gentleman in a green jacket and white stock, head and shoulders oil on canvas 74 x 62cm (29 x 24in) Provenance: Acquired in the north of England many years ago by the late vendor. Dr Alex Kidson plans to include the present portrait in his forthcoming addenda to his catalogue raisonne on George Romney, as an early Romney portrait. This hitherto unknown and unpublished painting is typical of George Romney's portraiture of the middle-1760s. It displays the solid technique, keen observation and avoidance of flattery that characterise many of his early works, made before he had fully engaged with metropolitan taste. The elegance, artifice and sophistication of design familiar in the artist's mature masterpieces are conspicuous by their absence; although Romney's instinct for colour harmony - later to be a classic ingredient of his fashionable portraits - is already subtly in evidence. Stylistically, this work is comparable with the portraits of Doctor James Ainslie of Kendal of 1765 (Bradford Museums) or the Reverend Robert Smith of Waddington, near Lancaster (Private Collection, Lancashire), dating from the same year. The 28 year-old Romney had travelled from his Kendal home to London in March, 1762 with the aim of making his name as a history painter. The following year he had been awarded a prize for his ambitious 'Death of General Wolfe', which brought him some notoriety in the London artworld. But Romney found, as many other artists did, that there was scant patronage for lofty paintings of subjects from history and literature, and his first years in London were something of a struggle. Twice, in the late summers of 1765 and 1767, he returned to the north-west (where he was something of a celebrity and could count on commissions) to replenish his coffers. Many portraits made on these two trips survive, whereas his pictures carried out in London before 1768 are few and far between. Although it is not impossible that this elderly gentleman lived in London, it is much more probable that he was from the north-west - a supposition re-inforced by the provenance of this painting, which was purchased by the previous owner in the north of England. Although the sitter's identity remains a mystery, some clue as to the social and geographical make-up of Romney's north-western patrons of the 1760s is provided by the names of 47 sitters from Kendal, Lancaster and district that Romney wrote down - probably because the commissions were in some way outstanding - in one of his notebooks. These clients were of the 'middling sort', merchants and men from the professions and their wives, often connected by family ties, friendship, or business (for an analysis see Helen Quartermaine: 'Who's Who in Lancaster: George Romney's 47 sitters' Transactions of the Romney Society, vol. 18 (2013) pp. 4-23). Of these portraits, around one third remain untraced and three are of older men: Mr Ashburner of Kendal, Thomas Saul of Lancaster and Henry Wilson of Hall Garth. That this portrait is of one of these three remains a tantalising possibility. We are grateful to Dr Alex Kidson for his assistance with the catalogue entry. Lined canvas. Stretcher ba marks and age craquelure evident. Paint has a fair amount of retouching across the surface including in the sitter's face. The retouching is not wholesale but but is locally applied to small areas of loss and abrasion. The appearance of the picture is good. Frame is in good condition.