Circle of Thomas Gainsborough

Circle of Thomas Gainsborough
Portrait of Simon Crook (1722-1801), half-length, wearing a brown coat and waistcoat, and powdered wig, in a painted oval
Oil on canvas, c.1763
76.9 x 64.4cm; 30¼ x 25¼in

Provenance:
By descent from the sitter the Rev Henry S. C. Crook, 6 Darlington Street, Bath;
His posthumous sale, James Rainey, Bath, 14 October 1884, lot 286;
Where purchased by John Stone, Solicitor, 6 Westgate Buildings, Bath;
By descent to the previous owner;
By whom sold, Aldridge's, Bath, Fine Art & Interiors, 30 November 2021, lot 348, where purchased by the present owner

Simon Crook was an apothecary in Abbey Street, Bath. He served on Bath City Council from 1754 to 1791, and was the mayor in 1778. In 1763 he was depicted in the satirical print The Knights of Baythe, or the One Headed Corporation. The present work dates from the same period, and an old stamp on the back of the original canvas, dated 1763, was discovered during recent conservation. 1763 was the year Thomas Gainsborough's death was erroneously reported by The Bath Journal. However, Gainsborough was seriously ill, and he did not work in his studio for the last 3 months of that year. Crook was a neighbour of Gainsborough, who also lived in Abbey Street from 1760 until 1766, when he moved to The Circus. During his Bath period Gainsborough painted several apothecaries, including Thomas Haviland (c.1761), James Haviland (c.1770), and Dr Rice Charleton (c.1764).