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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

Merchant Adventurers’ Hall

Fossgate, York, North Yorkshire YO1 9XD England

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