Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A.
Portrait of Wilson Gale-Braddyll (1756-1818), c. 1788
Oil on canvas
30 x 25 in (76 x 63 cm)
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com The sitter was born Wilson Gale, the eldest son of John and Sarah Gale of Highhead Castle, Cumberland. In 1776...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
The sitter was born Wilson Gale, the eldest son of John and Sarah Gale of Highhead Castle, Cumberland. In 1776 he inherited Conishead Priory, together with other properties, on the death of his cousin Thomas, and assumed the additional name and arms of the Braddyll family. In the same year he married his cousin Jane Gale, daughter and heir of Matthias Gale of Catgill Hall, Cumberland. In 1779 he was appointed Sheriff of Lancashire, and from 1780 he was a Whig MP for three different constituencies, successively Lancaster Borough, Horsham and Carlisle. He became a Groom of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, who in 1788 gave him a head and shoulders portrait of himself by Reynolds, which is now in the Tate Gallery (Mannings no. 720). As a friend of the Prince of Wales he was well known for his profligacy, and Farington wrote of him in 1796 'It is not supposed that Braddyll consumed his fortunes by gaming but by inattention to his expenses and by various profuseness of living. Though he had very expensive establishments to support, he lived much at taverns as a profuse bachelor'. In Reynolds's Pocket Book for 1788 there are several appointments with Mr Braddyll in January and February, and two for May, one of which may have been with Mrs Braddyll, whose portrait he also painted (Mannings no. 238), now in the Wallace Collection, London, along with one of their son Thomas (Mannings no, 236) and a group portrait of the family (Mannings no. 239), now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. A payment of 50 guineas is recorded in the artist's Ledger in July 1789. In 1803 Braddyll was made a Colonel in the 3rd Royal Lancashire Militia.
The sitter was born Wilson Gale, the eldest son of John and Sarah Gale of Highhead Castle, Cumberland. In 1776 he inherited Conishead Priory, together with other properties, on the death of his cousin Thomas, and assumed the additional name and arms of the Braddyll family. In the same year he married his cousin Jane Gale, daughter and heir of Matthias Gale of Catgill Hall, Cumberland. In 1779 he was appointed Sheriff of Lancashire, and from 1780 he was a Whig MP for three different constituencies, successively Lancaster Borough, Horsham and Carlisle. He became a Groom of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, who in 1788 gave him a head and shoulders portrait of himself by Reynolds, which is now in the Tate Gallery (Mannings no. 720). As a friend of the Prince of Wales he was well known for his profligacy, and Farington wrote of him in 1796 'It is not supposed that Braddyll consumed his fortunes by gaming but by inattention to his expenses and by various profuseness of living. Though he had very expensive establishments to support, he lived much at taverns as a profuse bachelor'. In Reynolds's Pocket Book for 1788 there are several appointments with Mr Braddyll in January and February, and two for May, one of which may have been with Mrs Braddyll, whose portrait he also painted (Mannings no. 238), now in the Wallace Collection, London, along with one of their son Thomas (Mannings no, 236) and a group portrait of the family (Mannings no. 239), now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. A payment of 50 guineas is recorded in the artist's Ledger in July 1789. In 1803 Braddyll was made a Colonel in the 3rd Royal Lancashire Militia.