Richard Cosway R.A. 1742-1821 Pencil study of a figure walking in a wooded landscape. 10 by 14.5 cms laid at corners onto a contemporary backing sheet 11.7 by 16.3 cms overall inscribed Cosway.
Provenance Leonard Duke 1890-1971. Duke was an omnivorous collector of British drawings. His first collection was sold to Paul Mellon, he then formed a second collection and gave away other drawings during his lifetime. His remaining collection was sold in 1351 lots in seven sales in Sotheby's in 1971.
Richard Cosway was the leading portrait miniaturist of the late 18th.Century. He painted his first portrait of George III in 1780 and was appointed Painter to the Prince of Wales in 1785. Cosway enjoyed continuous patronage from the Prince, painting over fifty portraits for him and other members of the royal family. He married the Anglo-Italian artist Maria Hadfield in 1781 and together they exerted great influence amongst London's fashionable elite and the art world.