Thomas Gainsborough R.A. 1727 - 1788

half length, wearing a maroon coat

The sitter was Alderman of Bath and Mayor of the city in 1773 and 1781.  He was a well established linen and wool draper whose warehouse was situated very close to Gainsborough's house in Bath.  He married Jane Ditcher whose brother, Dr Philip Ditcher was also painted by Gainsborough.  The composition of the present work corresponds to another portrait of the sitter which is in the collecton of Viscount Cowdray, Cowdray Park.  The only difference is that in the Cowdray Park picture Mr Bennett wears a blue and not a maroon coat.  It is not without precedent that Gainsborough painted two versions of the same composition with different colour schemes.  Two portraits with different coloured coats exist of George Montgomerie (Vancouver Art Gallery and Private Collection) and also of Giusto Fernando Tenducci (Barber Institute, Birmingham and Private Collection).