CIRCLE OF ROBERT WALKER | Portrait of a member of the Potts family, possibly Francis Potts, three-quarter-length, sitting with his dog in a landscape

By descent in the Potts family, formerly of Mannington Hall, Norfolk (the house bought in circa 1736 by Horatio Walpole);

Thence by descent to E.F. Long, Dunston Hall, Norfolk;

By whom posthumously sold, London, Christie's, 19 June 1959, lot 14 (as English School, 17th century), to Hall for 38 Guineas;

Bryan Hall, Banningham, Norfolk;

By whom sold ('The Contents of the Old Rectory, Banningham, Norfolk'), on the premises, Bonhams, 22 March 2004, lot 328.

Prince F. Duleep Singh, Portraits in Norfolk Houses, Norwich 1928, vol. I, p. 131 (identified as Francis Potts);

W. and M. Vaughan-Lewis, See you in Court: The Potts Family of Mannington Norfolk, 1584 - 1737, Lavenham 2009, pp. 220 and 531, reproduced in colour p. 173, plate 3 (identified as Francis Potts).

An old handwritten label affixed to the reverse of this canvas identifies the sitter as Francis Potts (c. 1620 - c. 1642), who died in Naples. The costume and style of the painting, however, suggest that it should be dated to the late 1640s or 1650s, after Francis’ death. He had two brothers, John (b. 1618) and Charles Potts (b. circa 1621), with whom this portrait might possibly be associated. The inscription translates as 'Minerva guides both ways' (in arts and in war).