Lot 44: John Simmons of Bristol (Nailsea c . 1715-1780 Bristol)

John Simmons of Bristol (Nailsea c. 1715-1780 Bristol)
Portrait of Heighes Woodforde (1726-1789), half-length, in a green coat and waistcoat, and white stock, a tricorne under his left arm, in a feigned oval
oil on canvas
29¾ x 24¾ in. (75.6 x 62.9 cm.)
in a late 18th century carved and gilded frame

By descent in the sitter's family.
Anonymous sale; Henry Duke & Son, Dorchester, 2 March 1995, lot 115, as 'Attributed to John Simmons of Bath' (as a pair with the present lot 45).
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's London, 3 April 1996, lot 73 (as a pair with the present lot 45).

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Heighes Woodforde was the son of the Rev. Samuel Woodforde (1695-1771), rector of Ansford and vicar of the neighbouring parish of Castle Cary, and Jane Collins (1706-1766). His younger brother was the celebrated diarist, the Rev. James Woodforde (1740-1803). Heighes was attorney for Castle Cary. He married Anne Dorville (1734-1799), daughter of Ralph Dorville of Alhampton, Somerset (see the following lot), at the Savoy Chapel on 17 December 1754, and their son, Samuel, became an artist.