This early 18th-century English School portrait depicts Thomas Stanley wearing a striking red velvet suit, white cravat and powdered periwig. Fashionable, yet elegantly refined. On the reverse, a partially legible label refers to the Wrightington Estate, where the portrait was hung.In the top left, an inscription refers to Meliora Gomeldon, who became Thomas’ wife in 1710, having been married previously to James Poole. It’s interesting that during her first marriage, she sat for John Vandervaart (1653-1727) and the resulting portrait is inscribed in a similar way to ours. It refers to both marriages, so it’s presumably a later inscription, added by descendants. You may notice that country house portrait collections often bear later inscriptions, following a cataloguing exercise.Thomas was born in 1687 in the sleepy Lancastrian village of St Michael on Wyre. Following his marriage to Meliora, the pair had two children, Meliora and Richard. Their daughter married William Dicconso...