Later Stuart Portraits Catalogue

John Law (1671-1729), Financier and speculator

Economist and speculator; b. Edinburgh; in England he led a dissipated life before escaping to Europe to study banking; in 1716 he became a naturalised Frenchman and in 1719 a Catholic convert; in Paris launched the Mississipi Company 1717 for exclusive trade with the French colony of Louisiana, and the Banque Royale 1718; appointed surintendant des finances 1720, but his schemes led to rash speculation and a surfeit of paper money; the ensuing crash enforced his resignation in December 1720; resumed a wandering life and died in Venice.


This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.