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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 7 cms) inscr. on page t.r. hand-written in brown ink "95"; cropped within plate - inscriptions may have been present on plate PUB SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) AFTER HEEMSKERK, Egbert van II; (Dutch; 1634/35-1704) 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. The remaining third are subject prints after a wide range of artists and subjects, from mythological and religious scenes after old Italian and Dutch and Flemish masters such as Titian and Rubens to fancy subjects after contemporary French and English painters.
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 first half of the 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 was republished by Smith who collected and republished many mezzotints by his contemporaries, giving a context to his own work. The print is one of six prints in the volume after the popular Dutch genre scenes of contemporary painter Egbert van Heemskerk. Depicting a singing man entertaining a group of children with a peep show, it is traditionally regarded as a portrait of James Laroche, a well known London actor and singer. It is included in a small group of miscellenous portraits inserted at the back of volume three. | 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: | GENRE : PUPPETEER : CABINET : FIGURES : CHILDREN : ENTERTAINER : PUPPET THEATRE : AUTOMATON : 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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