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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 6) inscr. on plate below image "Petrus Lellij Eques, Pictor Caroli 2di / Magna Britanniae Franciae & Hiberniae Regis"; inscr. on plate b.l. "Petrus Lellij Eques pinxit" and "I Becket fecit"; inscr. on plate b.r. "Cum Privilegio Regis." and "Sold by Alex: Browne at ye blew / ballcony in little queen street"; inscr. on page t.r. hand-written in brown ink "80" CRE BECKETT, Isaac; (English; 1653-1688) AFTER LELY, Peter, Sir (Pieter van der Faes); (Dutch; 1618-1680) PUB BROWNE, Alexander; (British; active 1659-1706) 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.
This print is after a self portrait by the leading and influential portrait painter and collector Sir Peter Lely who could be described as predecessor to Godfrey Kneller with whom Smith worked very closely. It was made by Smith's teacher Beckett, many of whose plates Smith bought and published after his death, including them in collections such as this to give context to his own work. It is included among a group of men of achievements in the worlds of medicine, art, literature, science or the military, toward the end of volume one. | 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: | SELF PORTRAIT : HALF-LENGTH : ALBUM : MUSTACHE : SIR : PORTRAIT PAINTER : PAINTER : 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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