Portrait of Mr Dawson of Retford with his servant
In the current state of research these two pictures are attributed to Stubbs with reservation. The facts are easily ascertainable. If the inscription on the Mr Dawson is authentic, and examination with the naked eye suggests that it is, then the implication is that the picture was painted in or after 1749. Stubbs is then recorded as a portraitist in Leeds, York, Hull and Lincolnshire. However from this period, which spans fifteen years, we are left with the two Nelthorpe portraits at Scawby Hall, the Portrait of Mr Stanley in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool and the newly attributed Portrait of George Fothergill at the Ferens. There are therefore no securely identified equestrian portraits by Stubbs from the 1740s/50s, nor are there any female portraits at all. The identification of the sitters as the Dawsons of Retford is by tradition.
