Painter - William Bardwell or Thomas Bardwell (d.1780)
Subject - Portrait of William Beckford as a boy - Oval -94cm x 76.2cm./ 37" x 30"
Estimated Value: £100,000
Minimum Offer: £60,000
Contact: Mr. Fraser Niven Phone 01620 828602 (Scotland)

William Beckford was the only son of William Beckford of Fonthill Gifford, Lord Mayor of London, and Marie Hamilton, granddaughter of the 6^th Earl of Abercorn. He inherited his father's fortune, made in the West Indies, and used it to patronize the arts.

He acquired a large collection of books and objects of vertu. He wrote a Gothic romance, "Vathek", which is considered a turning point in the development of the novel. Although openly homosexual he married and had two daughters.

His younger daughter, Susan, married his friend and co-collector Alexander, 10^th Duke of Hamilton to whom he left the bulk of his collection and the famous Beckford Library, much of which was sold at the great Hamilton Palace sales of 1882 and 1919.