Portrait of a Young Man

The artist was one of a family of leading Liverpool portraitists, resident rather than occasional visitors (as were Stubbs and Wright of Derby). The latter’s influence on this fine example of unpretentious provincial portraiture is suggested by the figure’s placement close to the picture plane and the forthright gaze. The sitter is not identified. He is most unlikely to be William Roscoe, as was formerly supposed, and may be the artist himself.