Anglo-Netherlandish School, 1562

The sitter came from a prominent family in York where his father Thomas Bowes was a goldsmith. He came to London where he was apprenticed to Robert Amadas, a leading goldsmith, becoming liveryman of the Goldsmith's Company in 1525 and prime warden in 1537, a position he occupied on twelve further occasions until 1562. He was an important figure in the City of London and was sheriff in 1540–41 and Lord Mayor in 1545–46.

Another version of this portrait, inscribed with the sitter's name and formerly at Broke Hall, Suffolk, was sold in these Rooms, 30 June 2005, lot 29, having descended in the Bowes family.