George Romney (Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire 1734-1802 Kendal, Cumbria)

The piece of wood attached to the reverse of the canvas is very likely to have come from the painting’s original stretcher. The inscription is presumed to be by Romney’s hand and states the name of the sitter, his first sitting and the ledger number 483. Ward and Roberts list John Sparling’s sittings on the 12th, 22nd, 26th, 27th, 29th, 31st of July 1793. They have however misread the sitting of the 19th as the 12th. This portrait will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist’s paintings being prepared by Alex Kidson, to whom we are grateful for his assistance in the cataloguing of the picture.