Portrait of William Edward Tomline (1787-1836)

The present finished drawing belonged to Edwin Hodgkins a London dealer in works of art of all kinds. His collection of Sèvres porcelain was sold to Henry Walters c.1910, and is now in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. His collection of British drawings was sold in these Rooms, 29 June 1917 and included twenty works by Cosway, though not the present drawing.

The son of Sir George Pretyman Tomline (1750-1827), Bishop of Lincoln, William Edward Tomline was an English politician, who was a Member of Parliament for a number of constituencies throughout the first quarter of the 19th Century.