Lot 1323: JOHN WOLLASTON ( 1706 - 1805) Framed, signed verso

JOHN WOLLASTON ( 1706 - 1805) Framed, signed verso `John Wollaston 1743 pinx`, on original canvas. This fine portrait shows we believe John Wesley (1703-1791) English founder of Methodism. Wollaston was living in London in 1733, before travelling to America in the early 1740`s. He returned to England via the West Indies in 1767. Wollaston`s first documented work, executed in 1742, is a portrait of Methodist evangelist George Whitefield; the original still exists, in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London. An engraving was produced after it by John Faber jnr. A number of other paintings dating to before his trip to the colonies also exist, including a portrait of an unidentified officer of the British Navy now in the National Gallery of Art.Oval slip, oil on canvas (relined). 71cm x 57.5cm.