Provenance: Sold Lawrences of Crewkerne, Fine Art Sale, Friday 22 January, 2010 Purchased by the vendor's mother in Ireland in 1971 for £600

This is a charming work in its own right. As a portrait the picture clearly shows a relationship to the work of Nathaniel Hone the Elder and is certainly influenced by the way he worked and his approach to his subjects. Nathaniel Hone regularly used members of his family for his paintings, and produced a series of portraits of his children and grandchildren. Knowing the identity of these figures - even when disguised in costume or as an allegorical figure from antiquity - was an important aspect of Hone’s approach to his art, it gave such portraits a clear individuality. He was also masterly at using the presence of a small animal, perhaps a rabbit or, as in the case of a work on the lines of ‘Portrait of a Boy with his spaniel’ a pet dog, to capture the innocence of his young sitters through their relationship with such a trusting, and trusted, creature.