Pencil on laid paper, 19.1cm by 30.5cm. Inscribed below: Lawrence/Portt of himself.
The drawing was a gift from the artist to Dr. Falconer of Bath, some time before 1786.
Thomas Lawrence was entirely self taught; a child prodigy, who at the age of ten was supporting his family with his pastel portraits.
He became a skilled portraitist in oils and received his first Royal commission from Queen Charlotte at the age of twenty one, before securing the patronage of the Prince Regent.
He exhibited at forty of the Royal Academy exhibitions and became the fourth President of the Academy in 1820.
By the time of his death ten years later, he was the most fashionable portrait painter in Europe.
