John Raphael Smith (1751-1812) - Framed 1811 Pastel Mrs Meanley

Description

A charming pastel portrait by John Raphael Smith (1751-1812). An inscription on the reverse identifies the sitter as Mrs Meanley, wife of the Reverend Astley Meanley. The Reverend Meanley was the minister of Underbank Chapel, a Unitarian chapel in Stannington, Sheffield. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, then considering becoming a Unitarian minister, visited the chapel in 1796 and met with the Reverend Meanley. Well presented in a vintage gilt frame. Signed and inscribed on the reverse. On paper.

Condition

There is some discolouration and foxing to the paper, but the condition is good for a picture of this age overall. Some scuffing and losses to the frame.

Size

24.5 x 20cm (9.6" x 7.9")
Framed Size: 34 x 30.5cm (13.4" x 12.0")

Artist Biography

John Raphael Smith (1751-1812) was a British painter and mezzotinter. He was the son of the landscape painter Thomas Smith and the father of the artist John Rubens Smith. Although initially apprenticed to a linen-draper in his native Derby, he moved to London in 1767 to pursue a career in art. He would become a successful mezzotinter, reproducing the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Joseph Wright of Derby, amongst others. Mezzotints of George Romney's portrait of 'The Children of Earl Gower' and Thomas Gainsborough's 'George, Prince of Wales' would see him appointed as Mezzotint Engraver to the Prince of Wales in 1784. He also exhibited oils and pastels at the Royal Academy. Smith became a publisher from 1781, including among his clients the radical writer and artist William Blake.