Wolverhampton Art Gallery (OP 300), in the Collection by 1970.

The local industrialist John Wilkinson (1728-1808) or "Ironmad Wilkinson" was one of the central figures of the Industrial Revolution. Probably more than any other single individual he was responsible for the rapid industrialisation of the Black Country in the late 18th century. In 1767 he built the first steam-powered blast furnace at the Bradley Ironworks, Bilston. In 1774 he invented a cannon-boring machine, probably his most important invention, which enabled accurate cylinders to be created suitable for the high specifications of Watt's steam engine. He also owned iron works at Broseley, near Coalbrookdale and North Wales. Wilkinson contributed to the construction of the world's first iron bridge, which was built at Coalbrookdale in 1779 and designed the first iron boat. He was a close friend of James Watt and other industrialists in Birmingham, the Black Country and Shropshire. His sister, Mary, married Joseph Priestley. Wilkinson pioneered new uses of iron and contributed to the developing engineering industry in the Midlands. When he died in 1808, he was appropriately buried in an iron coffin.

This painting and a companion in Wolverhampton Art Gallery are by unknown artists. For much of the 18th century, portraiture was largely a preserve of the aristocracy and gentry. There are no known paintings of, for example, the industrialists Abraham Darby I or John and Thomas Lombe. By the end of the century, however, artists were being commissioned to paint portraits of the industrial middle class, a sign of their growing wealth, confidence and status. A comparison can be made with Thomas Gainsborough’s “Portrait of James Donnithorne”, also at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.