DANIEL GARDNER, A.R.A. (KENDAL 1750-1805 LONDON)

The present drawing has long held an identification as Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (1735-1811), due to its descent in the Wrottesley family, via his second wife, Elizabeth. However, the sitter is wearing the undress uniform of a Foot Guard, and Fitzroy did not have a military career. It is more likely that the sitter is Elizabeth's brother, Sir John Wrottesley Bt., who served in the 1st Foot Guards in the 1770’s and 1780’s. A reference to a portrait of Sir John at Wrottesley in the uniform of the Foot Guards in G. Wrottesley, History of the family of Wrottesley, 1903, p. 361, is probably this picture.

We are grateful to Neil Jeffares and Christopher Bryant for their help in preparing this catalogue entry.