|
Date: |
|
Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 7) title inscr. on plate b.c. "Frederic William King of Prussia"; inscr. on plate b.l. "F.W. Weideman pinx."; inscr. br. "Sold by I. Smith at the Lyon and Crown in Russell Street." AFTER WEIDEMANN, Friedrich Wilhelm; (German; 1668-1750) 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.
Frederick William I King of Prussia from 1713 to 1740, was related to the British Royal family through his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of George I. His portrait was originally painted by German portrait painter Friedrich Wilhelm Weidemann. The print is one of a number of royal portraits toward the end of volume two which are smaller, reversed versions of prints by Smith in volume one. | 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 : HALF-LENGTH : ALBUM : OVAL : WIG : ARMOUR : 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 |
|
|