Description
CIRCLE OF JOHN LEWIS (18TH CENTURY) Portrait of Thomas Sheridan (1687-1738) Gouache on paper, 19.5 X 23.5cm Inscribed verso This appears to be the image used by Cook to engrave the portrait of Dr Sheridan for the 'Life of Swift' (Dublin 1784). This is engraving and the old inscription on the back of the present lot, identifies the sitter beyond doubt. In any case, Thomas Sheridan Jnr. would not have used it in his biography of his godfather if it was not a true image of this father. Dr Thomas Sheridan, a noted educationalist and philologist, came, through his wife, into the property of Quilca, Co. Cavan. His son, Thomas, was born in 1721, Quilca became a destination for Jonathan Swift and other intellectuals. Later, John Lewis was to decorate it with murals and portraits of the family. However Dr Sheridan dying in 1738, it is difficult to establish who exactly painted the present lot or if it records an earlier portrait. Certainly, there is a strength and empathy about it which would seem to indicate a direct interaction between artist and sitter. It is an important record of the founder of the remarkable Sheridan dynasty.
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CIRCLE OF JOHN LEWIS (18TH CENTURY) Portrait of Thomas Sheridan (1687-1738) Gouache on paper, 19.5 X 23.5cm Inscribed verso This appears to be the image used by Cook to engrave the portrait of Dr Sheridan for the 'Life of Swift' (Dublin 1784). This is engraving and the old inscription on the back of the present lot, identifies the sitter beyond doubt. In any case, Thomas Sheridan Jnr. would not have used it in his biography of his godfather if it was not a true image of this father. Dr Thomas Sheridan, a noted educationalist and philologist, came, through his wife, into the property of Quilca, Co. Cavan. His son, Thomas, was born in 1721, Quilca became a destination for Jonathan Swift and other intellectuals. Later, John Lewis was to decorate it with murals and portraits of the family. However Dr Sheridan dying in 1738, it is difficult to establish who exactly painted the present lot or if it records an earlier portrait. Certainly, there is a strength and empathy about it which would seem to indicate a direct interaction between artist and sitter. It is an important record of the founder of the remarkable Sheridan dynasty.
