Dr Erasmus Darwin, before 1803 (pastel on grey paper)

before 1803 A framed colour drawing on grey paper, showing: a half-length portrait of Dr Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), physician, naturalist and poet, and grandfather of Charles Darwin; he was a member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, which was active between 1765 and 1800, an informal grouping of men with ambitious industrialising plans who became known as the 'Fathers of the Industrial Revolution'; other members of the Lunar Society drawn by James Sharples include Sir Joseph Banks (see K1011), Sir William Herschel (see K1013) and Thomas Beddoes (see K1024)