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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 7) title inscr. on plate b.c. "George Petty"; inscr. on plate b.l. "T. Murray Pinx."; inscr. on plate b.c. "I. Smith ex."; inscr. on plate b.r. "R. Williams fec," CRE WILLIAMS, Robert; (Welsh; active 1680-1704) AFTER MURRAY, Thomas; (Scottish; 1663-1734) PUB SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) Part of William Hunter's original bequest, this is one of three volumes which together contain 488 mezzotints, almost all made or published by John Smith. About two thirds are portraits of eminent late Stuart, early Hanoverian persons, and one third fancy and mythological subjects.
Instrumental in raising the standard of mezzotint portraits, Smith was the first British printmaker to gain a European reputation, and examples of his work were essential for any serious early to mid 18th century European print collection.
Hunter's set of volumes is a rare surviving example of a comprehensive collection of mezzotints compiled in the 1730s.
This print was engraved by Robert Williams, one of the earliest English mezzotinters. Smith published and republished many plates by his contemporaries, providing a context to his own work. It is after a portrait by Thomas Murray, a Scottish born portrait painter who moved to London and became a pupil of eminent portraitist John Riley, principal painter to William III.
Little is known about the young sitter George Petty. His portrait is included amongst a group of portraits of men of distinction from various fields, including politics, art and literature although the volume also contains a number of portraits of children of eminent men. | License: | http://www.hmag.gla.ac.uk/spirit/rights/ | Publisher: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Rights holder: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Subjects: | PORTRAIT : THREE- QUARTER LENGTH : ALBUM : STANDING : YOUTH : HAT : VOLUME : HUNTER VOLUME : | Source: | Hunterian Museum | Creator: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Identifier: | http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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