A large Derby figure of John Wilkes c.1765-70

A large Derby figure of John Wilkes c.1765-70, standing and resting one hand on a square plinth, atop of which rests a scroll, draped in a long pink cloak over a gilt patterned waistcoat, a putto to his right, holding a phrygian cap on the end of a stick and supporting a book titled 'Lock [sic] on Gov't', raised on a scrolled base, minor damages, 31.5cm.

Provenance: The Property of the late Anthony Hobson, The Glebe House, Whitsbury, Hampshire.

John Wilkes (1725-1797) was an English politician and radical journalist whose criticism of the King in his magazine The North Briton earned him a warrant for his arrest for libel in 1763. Citing parliamentary privilege he was cleared of the charge and went on to become Lord Mayor of London in 1774.