Lot 41: GEORGE QUINTON

GEORGE QUINTON 1779 - 1879 PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN, TRADITIONALLY IDENTIFIED AS JOHN MILTON (1608-1674) Quantity: 2 inscribed l.l.: P.V..P4. A.S. Fecit; signed verso: G Quinton delint 1796 watercolour over traces over pencil heighened with pen and brown ink; together with a chalk Portrait of an Old Man by Bernard Lens (1682-1740) largest 20 by 17 cm.; 8 by 6 3/4 in.

the first Anonymous sale, Phillips London, 17 April 2000, lot 18

THE FIRST ENGRAVED

by George Quinton, 1797

The present work is taken from Pieter van der Plas's oil painting which dates from circa 1650. When Quinton executed this watercolour, in preparation for his 1797 engraving, he believed Van der Plas's work to be a portrait of Milton. However, since the 1860s the identity of the sitter in the oil painting has been questioned. Comparison with the acknowledged line-engraving by William Faithorne further suggests this is unlikely to represent Milton.