Mark Beaufoy Esqr. Aged 62. 1781.

A fine, rare, three quarter length, seated portrait of the industrialist and vinegar distiller Mark Beaufoy (1719-1782). He sits comfortably in an armchair, clasped hands, holding gloves, folded across his stomach. A Quaker from Bristol, he is extremely plainly dressed, and wears a tricorne hat over curled wig. In the background is a draped curtain and a landscape with trees. In 1762 Beaufoy established a vinegar distillery on the derelict site of Cuper’s Gardens, Lambeth (previously a pleasure gardens, popularly known as Cupid’s Gardens). An astute business man, he became principal supplier of vinegar to the Royal Navy (used as a preserver of food and a detergent for washing the decks) and his grandson went on to become one of Vauxhall’s principal landowners and M.P. for Kennington. The distillery was demolished to make way for the approaches to Waterloo Bridge in 1810, and the company removed to South Lambeth Road. The firm continued into the twentieth century, and in 1932 united with British Vinegars Ltd.