Lot 1790
FOLLOWER OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, PRA (1723-1792)
GIRL SLEEPING
Oil on canvas
73.5 x 61.5cm.
* After Reynolds's RA exhibit (1788, no.51), sold to John Wolcot in 1790 for 50 guineas, but latterly untraced. Ada Earland noted in 1911 that Wolcot (the physician and satirist known as `Peter Pindar`, 1738-1819) hung his own picture alongside a number of copies at his Truro home. Indeed, the subject seems to have enjoyed an unusual popularity: Mannings records eight copies of approximately the size of this picture and he notes that fifteen full-size copies were produced in 1823. Engravings by J. Jones and S. W. Reynolds undoubtedly contributed to the subject's popularity amongst copyists.
