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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 6) inscr. on plate below image "FREDERICUS GUILLELMUS D.G. BORUSSORUM REX S. R. J. Princeps & Elector &c. &c Magnae Britainniae Regis Gener & Nepos. / Nat die 4 Aug. 1688."; inscr. on plate b.l. "F. W. Weideman Pinx. Berolini 1714"; inscr. on plate b.c. "J. Smith Fec. Londini 1715"; inscr. on plate b.r. "'old by J. Smith at ye Lyon & Crown in Russell street Covent Garden"; inscr. on page t.r. hand-written in brown ink "30" CRE SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) 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 reigned as King of Prussia from 1713-1740. He was married to Sophia Dorothea, daughter of George I. As for many of Smith's Royal portraits, there is a smaller, reversed version of this print in volume two. The portrait Smith worked from is thought to have been painted by German portrait painter Friedrich Wilhelm Weidemann. | 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 : KING : WIG : ARMOUR : ERMINE : CROWNS : EMBROIDERY : SOPHIA DOROTHEA : 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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