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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 6) inscr. on plate below image "His Royal Highness William Duke of Glocester / Nat:240 / Denant: 30.0 } dic Iuly { 1689 / 1700"; inscr. on plate b.l. "G. Kneller Eques pinx: 1699"; inscr. on plate b.c. "I. Smith fec:"; inscr. on plate b.r. "Sold by I. Smith at ye Lyon and Crown in Russel Street Covent Garden"; inscr. on page t.r. hand-written in brown ink "21" CRE SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) AFTER KNELLER, Godfrey, Sir; (English; 1646-1723) 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.
William, Duke of Gloucester was the only son of Queen Anne to survive infancy but died when he was 11 leaving her without an heir and bringing an end to the reign of the Stuart dynasty. There are portraits of the Duke as an infant in volume two. 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. | 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 : NECKCLOTH : STAR : BADGE : DUKE : GLOUCESTER : 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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