John Gully

Inscriptionback to top

An old paper pasted on the back reads: This portrait of John Gulley [sic]/was given by Mellor Hetherington to/Darcy Bacon 16th May 1820/It was presented to him by the very Reverend/the Dean of St Barcol (?)/Drummond Painter.
The Roman numerals LXXXV appear above in black paint.

This portraitback to top

The portrait shows Gully as a young man, probably at the height of his career as pugilist between the fights against the 'Game Chicken' (Henry Pearce) in 1805 and Bob Gregson in 1808.

Physical descriptionback to top

Head and shoulders nearly full-face, brown hair, blue eyes (his left slightly larger than the right), snub nose, ruddy complexion; dark brown coat, yellow waistcoat with thin blue stripes, white collar, neckcloth and shirt-frill; plain brown background.

Provenanceback to top

The Dean of St Barcol; Mellor Hetherington; Darcy Bacon; Brian Belk (Gully's great-great-great-grandson) who lent it in 1970 with the probability of its becoming a bequest.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

View all known portraits for Samuel Drummond

View all known portraits for John Gully