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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 6) inscr. on plate below image "Don. Carlo Earl of Plymouth"; inscr. on plate b.r. "I. Smith ex:"; inscr. on page t.r. hand-written in brown ink "64" CRE SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) AFTER ? LELY, Peter, Sir (Pieter van der Faes); (Dutch; 1618-1680) PUB SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) Part of William Hunter's original bequest, this is one of three volumes together containing 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.
It is thought that this print is after a portrait painted by the leading portrait painter Sir Peter Lely, predecessor to Godfrey Kneller with whom Smith worked very closely. Charles FitzCharles, Earl of Plymouth, was the illegitimate son of Charles II and Catherine Pegg. He was an army officer and died after drinking contaminated water whilst involved in defending Tangiers against a Moorish assault. His portrait is one of a group of Lords and Earls in the volume. | 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 : THREE-QUARTER LENGTH : ALBUM : STANDING : CHARLES II : CATHERINE PEGG : BARON : EARL : VISCOUNT : FLANDERS : 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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