David Morier, Swiss/British 1705-1770- An equestrian portrait of an officer of the first troop of horse Grenadier Guards on a bay charger with a trooper to the right; oil on canvas, 127x101.5cm Provenance: James Rowntree; Sotheby's, London, 15th July 1987, lot 56; Sotheby's, London, 14th November 1990, lot 72; Sotheby's, London, 2nd May 2018, lot 178 Note: Morier was greatly influenced by the equestrian portraits of the Dutchman Jan Wyck, who much like Morier, forged a career in England as a painter of sporting and military scenes. The studious handling of the military uniforms and equipment is typical of Morier’s work. He was regarded predominantly as a soldier’s painter and exhibited four portraits at the Society of Artists in London. His most significant patron was William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, from whom he received an annual two-hundred pound allowance. Cumberland commanded the victorious government armies at Culloden, defeating the Jacobite cause. It seems Morier lived quite desperately following the duke’s death in 1765, allegedly locked up in debtors prison a few years later. His burial at St James' in Clerkenwell in 1770 was paid for by the Society of Artists. in a carved and gilded Lely frame