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This is a half-length portrait of Stephen Watson, an alderman, grocer and benefactor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers admitted in the year 1614. He served as Warden of the Company from 1629–1631 and was also Lord Mayor of York for the first time in 1646 and again in 1656. This portrait was painted whilst he was Lord Mayor of York. He wears red alderman robes, a broad white collar edged with lace and similar cuffs, a black skull cap, and the distinctive Lord Mayor of York’s chain of office beneath the robe. He holds a sealed letter in his left hand. Beneath the painted ledge on which the figure rests his left forearm and hand is the following inscription: 'Stephen Watson Grocer late of the Citie of Yorke Alderman gave unto this Company, the sum of Threescore pound to be Lent to: 2 young men Grocers, for 3 years & so to others successively for ever'.
Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
York
Title
Stephen Watson (d.1659), Grocer and Alderman, Warden (1629–1631)
Date
c.1646
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 86.5 x W 63.5 cm
Accession number
YORMA 154
Work type
Painting
Inscription description
1."Stephen Watson Grocer late of the Citie of York