Francis Barber?

with the forthcoming blue plaque to Francis Barber at Dr Johnson's House, it's worth noting that in 1857, the original of this much-copied head study by Sir Joshua was loaned by Sir George Beaumont and exhibited in the Modern Masters section as 'A Negro / ?Frank Barber / Dr Johnson's Black Servant'

does this indicate that the sitter was traditonally identified as Barber  or that it was Beaumont's  conjecture, given that Barber,  Reynolds and Johnson were all associated with the 1780s anti-slavery cause, and perhaps also because the subject was again topical in the 1850s?

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