James Wooldrige

The painting has been signed twice by "J. Wooldrig." This double signing is because the canvas was once two separate paintings (discussed below), and the artist signed both of them in what would have been the bottom right corner of each. The late Paul Hulton, curator of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum and the leading authority on John White and his watercolors and engravings, identified this artist as James Wooldridge, a London artist about whom very little is known. Wooldridge was a member of the Guild of Painter-Stainers and first appears in their records in 1660, when he was released from his apprenticeship. He appears in the guild records in 1668, again in 1671, when he is recorded as taking two apprentices, and again in 1678 (see research notes from the Guildhall records). He does not appear in the comprehensive assessment of London tradesmen in 1695, suggesting he had died or left town by then. No other paintings can be credited to Wooldridge, and he does not appear in any of the standard reference works on English artists. His dates are one of the reasons for our dating of the painting (but see below for forensic reasons).