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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 7) title inscr. on plate b.c. "His Excellency John Duke of Marlborough"; inscr. on plate b.l. "G. Kneller Eques pinx."; inscr. br. "Sold by I. Smith at ye Lyon and Crown in Russell Street Covent Garden" CRE SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) AFTER KNELLER, Godfrey, Sir; (English; 1646-1723) 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.
Smith's close association with leading portrait painter Godfrey Kneller, author of this portrait, was key to his success. From around 1690 almost all engravings after portraits by Kneller, were executed by Smith.
John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough was a great British general and a diplomat who found favour with both the Jacobites and the Hanoverians. His portrait appears here in volume two alongside another diplomat and also in volume one among other military leaders and aristocrats. The Duke was a collector and Smith engraved a series of paintings thought to be by Titian from his collection (Glaha 16602-16611). | 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 : LACE CRAVAT : GEORGE : ARMOUR : WIG : 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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