Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (Sudbury 1727-1788 London)

Dr. William Walcot (1719-1806) was a gentleman farmer originally from Northamptonshire, who owned land outside Oundle, Ashton, Polebrook and Walsoken in Norfolk. When this portrait was sold at Sotheby's in 1965 it had an old label on the reverse, which read 'Thomas Gainsborough pinxit, Bath June 11th, 1767'. A pendant portrait of the sitter's wife (née Mary Creed), which was lot 120 in the same sale, is also recorded as being dated '1767' on the reverse (E. Waterhouse, op. cit, p. 94, no. 699). While the label on the present portrait no longer survives, the style of execution and the age of the sitter accord with this date.