Lot 131: f - RICHARD WAITT FL.1706-1732

SIGNED AND DATED (MAKER'S MARKS)
signed l.l.:Ric Waitt/Pinxit/1727

half length, wearing a blue coat and a white waistcoat

73.5 by 58.5 cm., 29 by 23 in.

oil on canvas, in a painted oval, in a carved wood frame

Richard Waitt's first recorded work dates from 1708. The previous year he is recorded as having married Margaret, the daughter of Episcopal minister, David Freebairn. Waitt is said to have been a pupil of John Scougall (c.1645-1730), a suggestion supported by the fact that a number of Waitt's portraits depict members of families already painted by Scougall. In the early part of his career Waitt was patronised by the Grant Clan who commissioned him to paint an impressive series of portraits of their clansmen. A self-portrait of the artist in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery shows Waitt to have been an artist of both versatility and flair.