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The identification of the animals in this oil portrait as Tristram and Fox, however, is not conclusive, for the subject was not titled by the artist. Nor was it engraved . It may have been the received opinion of the artist’s descendants who gave the painting to the National Gallery in 1896, and has been accepted as such ever since. A chalk sketch by Gainsborough of two dogs, probably dating from the 1780s (sold Christie’s June 13 2001, lot 5), was later reproduced as a lithograph by R. J. Lane in 1827, with the printed inscription, ‘Tristram and Fox. Favorites [sic] of Gainsborough’. However, the two dogs in the sketch are quite different from those in the painting , indicating that either the drawing or the painting has been wrongly identified at some point.

The choice of his dogs’ names is indicative of Gainsborough’s sense of humour and his awareness of contemporary literary and intellectual culture. Tristram is thought to have been named after the eponymous hero of Laurence Sterne’s novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman , (1759-67). The centrally placed dog was probably called Fox simply because of its vulpine appearance, although it may also have been a humorous allusion to Charles James Fox (1749-1806), the Whig politician.

Gainsborough’s affectionate portrayal of the two dogs is in keeping with the cult of sensibility (of which Sterne’s novel was a key text) that advocated kindness to animals and an understanding of their various natures. Both handling and the viewpoint here encourage us to see the dogs as sentient beings in their own right, a perception enhanced by the catch-lights in Fox’s eyes along with his part-opened mouth. They are clearly shown as family companions rather than working or sporting animals.

The two dogs meant a great deal to Gainsborough and his wife. According to the artist’s early biographer, G.W. Fulcher, Gainsborough sometimes characterised himself as Fox in correspondence with his wife: ‘Whenever [Gainsborough] spoke crossly to his wife ...he would write a note of repentance, sign it with the name of his favourite dog, ‘Fox’, and address it to his Margaret’s pet spaniel, ‘Tristram’. Fox would take the note in his mouth and duly deliver it...’ (Fulcher, pp.152-3).

It is difficult to identify which breeds Tristram and Fox belong to, partly because present-day breeds may look markedly different today from their appearance in the eighteenth century. The dogs are clearly of two different breeds: Fox, on the left, with its pointed, folded-down ears, feathered coat and white frilled collar, appears to be a collie-like breed, perhaps a Shetland Sheepdog, while Tristram, on the right, with its floppy silken ears, is similar to a spaniel, some varieties of which are black and tan in colouring. It appears to be a small dog although, as it is lying down (while Fox is sitting upright), the scale could be misleading. It may perhaps be a larger dog, such as a setter: the Gordon setter has the characteristic brown circular markings on the eye brows.

The painting probably dates from Gainsborough’s early London period, and is recorded by Sir Ellis Waterhouse as having hung over the chimney piece in Gainsborough’s London house. It may originally have had a more horizontal format, for the unfinished figure of Tristram on the right appears to have been cut down.

The support is in moderate condition, slightly yellowed overall with spots of foxing dotted throughout. There are some small damages. The media is soft graphite applied in loose strokes and heavily in the foreground. It appears to be in sound condition. There is a gum glaze over the whole support that may have been applied by the artist as a fixative or to increase the saturation of the heavily applied areas of graphite. This gum is likely to have contributed to the overall yellowing of the support as well as poor handling and storage conditions .

The interior of the ruined Abbey with a figure on the left is described in loose graphite stokes that are characteristic of the artist pencil sketching style.

While it is sometimes uncertain whether such figures are peasants relaxing and eating in the open air or true gypsies, living a nomadic outdoor life, the evidence (provided by Gainsborough’s title of the later engraving of the subject) suggests that the figures here are gypsies. Eighteenth-century social attitudes towards gypsies (as found in the literature of the period) were that they were a rather sinister yet nevertheless fascinating underclass.

The motif of figures around a fire had appeared in Gainsborough’s Wooded Landscape with Mounted Peasant on a Country Track (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) of around the same date, although the group is placed in the middle-distance amongst dark woodland foliage. Here, the group of gypsies forms the focus of the composition in what is the first of Gainsborough’s landscapes in which figures of any kind predominate. They are gathered under a large oak tree, with a family beside a heavily laden donkey close to the tree, with three further figures sitting around a cooking pot. They are shown in a state of repose, smoking pipes and warming themselves around a comforting fire, in anticipation of a hot meal.

The picture is believed to date from around 1753-4 and to have been commissioned by a gentleman in Ipswich. According to a story cited by Walter Thornbury in his Life of J.M. W. Turner, R.A. (1862, II, pp.59-60), Gainsborough slashed the canvas in a temper when the client claimed he did not like it. Two slashes across the picture are detectable, so the story may well be true. The picture was subsequently rescued by, or given to, Gainsborough’s friend, Joshua Kirby (1716-74) who had it repaired. The composition is centred around the dominant tree, and only this detail and the figure group have been worked up to any degree of finish. Much of the foreground and left-hand side have simply been blocked out in dead colour (or underpaint) and have been left unfinished. The tree and group of gypsies are centrally placed in this horizontal composition, but Gainsborough’s next painting on the theme, The Gypsies , c.1758, was a vertical arrangement, with a more complex grouping of figures. This more elaborate restatement of the subject was once owned by Thomas William, 1 st Earl of Lichfeld (1795-1854), although its present whereabouts are unknown. A version, believed by most scholars to be a copy of the lost original, was sold at Sotheby’s July 4 2001 (lot 70). The Lichfeld painting was the basis for Gainsborough’s famous print The Gypsies . For this project, possibly proposed by Joshua Kirby, Gainsborough executed his own outline etchings in around 1758, and the plate was then passed to the professional engraver Joseph Wood for completion. The publication was announced in an advertisement in the Public Advertiser of 14 October 1758 and was subsequently published as a pair with Richard Wilson’s Lake Nemi , in March 1759.

The Gypsies was the first print to be published commercially after one of Gainsborough’s paintings. The fact that the publication coincided with Gainsborough’s recent arrival in fashionable Bath is significant. At a time when he would have been intent on establishing his reputation, the choice of The Gypsies surely indicates the subject’s importance for him, as one that he was proud to have stand as a testament to his abilities in landscape painting.

The artist’s final treatment of the theme was in Gypsy Encampment, Sunset (Tate N05803 ), c.1778-80. While this was clearly derived from these earlier explorations, the emphasis was more on the landscape and atmospheric light than on the activities of the lively figures, as seen here.

Further Reading Ellis Waterhouse, Gainsborough, 1958, no. 864

John Hayes, The Landscape Paintings of Thomas Gainsborough , 2 vols, 1982, p. 477, no.122, reproduced

Susan Sloman, Gainsborough in Bath , 2002, pp.141-5

Martin Postle, Thomas Gainsborough , 2002, p.31, reproduced

Michael Rosenthal and Martin Myrone eds., Gainsborough , Tate exhibition catalogue, 2002, p.31, reproduced fig.23, p.32