Dobson, WILLIAM

Dobson, WILLIAM, portrait-painter, was born in London in 1610, and succeeded Vandyck as king's serjeant-painter and groom of the privy chamber. He attended the king at Oxford, where he painted his portrait, and those of the Prince of Wales, Prince Rupert, and other members of the court. The disturbances of the time and his own careless habits threw his affairs into confusion, and he was imprisoned for debt, and died in poverty, 28th October 1646, shortly after his release. His finest portraits are lifelike and well executed, resembling those of Vandyck. Examples are preserved at Coombe Abbey, Bridgewater House, Devonshire House, the National Portrait Gallery, and at Hampton Court, where is the excellent painting of himself and wife.