Lot 8: Portrait of William Gillies (1761-1845), three-quarter-length

Alexander Pope (1763-1835) Portrait of William Gillies (1761-1845), three-quarter-length signed and dated 'A.Pope 1806' (lower left) pencil and watercolour, heightened with touches of white 11¼ x 8 5/8 in. (29.2 x 21.9 cm.)

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The sitter was a businessman and corn-merchant in London, whose five children included the miniature painter Margaret Gillies, and the author Mary Gillies. After the premature death of William Gillies's wife, his children were brought up under the guardianship of his brother, Adam Gillies, Lord Gillies, in Edinburgh. The sitter's third wife was Mary Grimstone, the radical writer and champion of women's rights. Before her marriage, she had spent four years in Van Diemen's Land with her family, and had written a number of novels, including Women's Love (1832), probably the first novel to be written in Australia.

Alexander Pope, an actor and painter, was born in Cork and trained at the Dublin Society School. He lived and worked predominantly in London, and exhibited a total of 59 miniatures at the Royal Academy between 1785 and 1821.