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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 6) inscr. on plate below image "His Royal Highness Prince Frederick &c. "; inscr. on plate b.l. "Painted at Hanover by Mr. Fountain 1723"; inscr. on plate b.c. "J. Smith fect."; inscr. on plate b.r. "Sold by J. Smith at the Lyon & Crown in Russel Street Covent Garden"; inscr. on page t.r. hand-written in brown ink "33" CRE SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) AFTER LAFONTAINE, Georg Wilhelm; (German; 1680-1745) 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 Lewis, Prince of Wales of the Hanoverian dynasty was the son of George II. Dying before his father, his son succeeded George II to the throne as George III. Frederick was an important art collector and there was expectation that he would found a Royal Academy. His early death prevented this, but his son George III followed his interests in the arts and later achieved the foundation. The painter of the original portrait was Georg Wilhelm Lafontaine. | 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 : LACE CRAVAT : ARMOUR : BROOCH : 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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