拍品專文
The earliest records of print collecting in the Bute family date from the mid eighteenth century when the 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792) formed a major collection of prints (including, with the help of Captain Baillie, a comprehensive collection of Rembrandt prints), which was sold on his death in 1792.
His successor John, 4th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bute (1744-1814) began collecting portrait prints in the 1770s. His most notable achievement was to secure en bloc the 36 volumes of engraved portraits assembled by the antiquary Richard Bull, in 1774 (cf. Lugt 314). Further acquisitions are likely to have been made by John 3rd Marquess of Bute (1847-1900), but the collection of mezzotints was significantly expanded by his son John, 4th Marquess of Bute (1883-1947).
The present arrangement of the collection would appear to have been undertaken by Major Harvey (the print seller of 5, Pickering Place, St. James's Street), who was retained by Bute for many years, also acting as his advisor on sporting pictures. This connection is documented in a letter from Harvey to Bute, dated 29 November 1916, regarding the acquisition of the stipple engraving portrait by F. Bartolozzi after G. Romney of Sir Charles Stuart, 4th son of John, 3rd Earl of Bute.
The collection represents the greatest period of English portraiture in mezzotint, inspired by the revival of English portraiture painting in the latter half of the eighteenth century led by Reynolds, Romney, and Gainsborough. Reynolds, first President of the Royal Academy, established a tradition of portraiture in the Grand Manner. His vast output of portraits includes almost every man and woman of note in England in the latter part of the eighteenth century.
The first English mezzotinter to establish an international reputation was John Raphael Smith (of whose oeuvre 47 mezzotints are included in this lot), and the technique became known abroad as la manière anglaise. The suitability of mezzotint as a means of reproducing portraits, with its rich, pictorial qualities, was the reason for this success. Portrait painters endeavoured to attach the best mezzotinters to their service in order to publicize their work.
The greatest period of mezzotint began in the 1750s, with the arrival of the so-called 'Dublin-group' in London, of which James McArdell was the most outstanding member (of whose oeuvre 34 mezzotints are included in this lot). The Dublin-group dominated the profession until the mid 1770s, to be superceded in the later 1770s by Valentine Green, Thomas Watson, and John Raphael Smith. This lot also contains the celebrated full-length portraits of ladies by Valentine Green, regarded as his finest achievement, and nearly all the mezzotints by James Watson, the great interpreter of Reynolds' portrait paintings of the 1760s and 1770s.
Like his contemporaries, Reynolds was closely involved in supervising the production of mezzotints made after his portraits. The creative force and freedom of his handling of paint finds its match in the boldness of execution of the very finest mezzotints in this collection, which transcend their status as interpretive works to become masterpieces in their own right.
His successor John, 4th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bute (1744-1814) began collecting portrait prints in the 1770s. His most notable achievement was to secure en bloc the 36 volumes of engraved portraits assembled by the antiquary Richard Bull, in 1774 (cf. Lugt 314). Further acquisitions are likely to have been made by John 3rd Marquess of Bute (1847-1900), but the collection of mezzotints was significantly expanded by his son John, 4th Marquess of Bute (1883-1947).
The present arrangement of the collection would appear to have been undertaken by Major Harvey (the print seller of 5, Pickering Place, St. James's Street), who was retained by Bute for many years, also acting as his advisor on sporting pictures. This connection is documented in a letter from Harvey to Bute, dated 29 November 1916, regarding the acquisition of the stipple engraving portrait by F. Bartolozzi after G. Romney of Sir Charles Stuart, 4th son of John, 3rd Earl of Bute.
The collection represents the greatest period of English portraiture in mezzotint, inspired by the revival of English portraiture painting in the latter half of the eighteenth century led by Reynolds, Romney, and Gainsborough. Reynolds, first President of the Royal Academy, established a tradition of portraiture in the Grand Manner. His vast output of portraits includes almost every man and woman of note in England in the latter part of the eighteenth century.
The first English mezzotinter to establish an international reputation was John Raphael Smith (of whose oeuvre 47 mezzotints are included in this lot), and the technique became known abroad as la manière anglaise. The suitability of mezzotint as a means of reproducing portraits, with its rich, pictorial qualities, was the reason for this success. Portrait painters endeavoured to attach the best mezzotinters to their service in order to publicize their work.
The greatest period of mezzotint began in the 1750s, with the arrival of the so-called 'Dublin-group' in London, of which James McArdell was the most outstanding member (of whose oeuvre 34 mezzotints are included in this lot). The Dublin-group dominated the profession until the mid 1770s, to be superceded in the later 1770s by Valentine Green, Thomas Watson, and John Raphael Smith. This lot also contains the celebrated full-length portraits of ladies by Valentine Green, regarded as his finest achievement, and nearly all the mezzotints by James Watson, the great interpreter of Reynolds' portrait paintings of the 1760s and 1770s.
Like his contemporaries, Reynolds was closely involved in supervising the production of mezzotints made after his portraits. The creative force and freedom of his handling of paint finds its match in the boldness of execution of the very finest mezzotints in this collection, which transcend their status as interpretive works to become masterpieces in their own right.