Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
John Smeaton (1724-1792), Civil engineer
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
c.1775-80
Painting by an unknown artist, possibly Rhodes, three-quarter length seated, left hand in breeches pocket, the Eddystone lighthouse behind him. Royal Society, London (illus. Cat., 1980, p 276). Formerly attributed to J. Richardson (Cat. 1860, p 60, and 1912, p 13). Reduced version sold Bonham’s, 7 December 1990, lot 130; a copy by Louisa Wren sold Sotheby’s, 27 April 1983, lot 31.
There has been some confusion as to how the Royal Society acquired their two portraits of Smeaton, this by Rhodes and the other by Brown (see 1783 below). The Society’s cats. of 1860 and 1912 said both were given by Smeaton’s friend Alexander Aubert FRS, who indeed presented the Brown in 1799 (as contemporary engravings confirm); the 1980 Catalogue said that the Brown was bequeathed by the sitter’s daughter, Mrs Dixon, which is certainly wrong; perhaps this was the provenance of the ‘Rhodes’ portrait.
c.1779
Painting by George Romney after Rhodes, see NPG 80.
1783
Painting by Mather Brown, half length with a watermill wheel behind him. Commissioned by one of Smeaton's clients, Mr Hilbert. A weak version was with M. Cusack in 1930. Smeaton’s cousin, the watchmaker John Holmes, introduced him to Brown in July 1783 (D. Evans, Mather Brown: an early American artist in England, 1982, pp 93-94; no.170). A weak version was with M. Cusack in 1930.
A copy, in which the Eddystone lighthouse replaced the waterwheel, was commissioned by Smeaton’s friend Alexander Aubert FRS c.1788 and presented to the Royal Society 1799 (illus. D. Evans, Mather Brown: an early American artist in England, 1982, no.171). Exhibited Art Treasures, Manchester, 1857 (BPG 257); Second special exhibition of National Portraits (William and Mary to MDCCC), South Kensington, 1867 (678). The many engravings include those by W. Bromley 1790, 1792, 1798, and R. Woodman (from an original picture ascribed to Mortimer in the possession of the Royal Society). Copies sold Sotheby’s, 1 November 1991, lot 434 (reduced); 18 September 1997, lot 73, and 12 February 1998, lot 211.
A version of either the Brown or the ‘Rhodes’ type, with ‘the Eddystone Lighthouse seen in the background’, was formerly with Robert Napier, West Shandon, Glasgow (cat., 1865, p 59, no.559).
c.1786-88
Painting by Thomas Gainsborough, half-length, holding a drawing of the Eddystone lighthouse. Southill (E. K. Waterhouse, Gainsborough, 1958, no.623). Smeaton had designed a bridge and constructed underground cisterns for the brewer Samuel Whitbread, with whose descendants the portrait remains. Engraved mid-19th century from a drawing by Margaret Tekusch from a picture in the possession of the Institution of Civil Engineers/The Original by Gainsborough belonging to William Whitbread. A version, the paper bearing a plan of Ramsgate Harbour (Aubert, see under Mather Brown 1783 above, was Chairman of Ramsgate Harbour development), was in the McCormack sale, American Art Assoc., New York, 3 December 1936, lot 70.
Posthumous
1897-1902
Bust by Henry Fehr. Institution of Civil Engineers, London.
The tablet to Smeaton at Whitkirk, Leeds, by Robert Cooke 1792 displays a model of the Eddystone lighthouse (illus. S. Smiles, Lives of the Engineers, 1862, II, pp 89-90).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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.
Painting by an unknown artist, possibly Rhodes, three-quarter length seated, left hand in breeches pocket, the Eddystone lighthouse behind him. Royal Society, London (illus. Cat., 1980, p 276). Formerly attributed to J. Richardson (Cat. 1860, p 60, and 1912, p 13). Reduced version sold Bonham’s, 7 December 1990, lot 130; a copy by Louisa Wren sold Sotheby’s, 27 April 1983, lot 31.
There has been some confusion as to how the Royal Society acquired their two portraits of Smeaton, this by Rhodes and the other by Brown (see 1783 below). The Society’s cats. of 1860 and 1912 said both were given by Smeaton’s friend Alexander Aubert FRS, who indeed presented the Brown in 1799 (as contemporary engravings confirm); the 1980 Catalogue said that the Brown was bequeathed by the sitter’s daughter, Mrs Dixon, which is certainly wrong; perhaps this was the provenance of the ‘Rhodes’ portrait.
c.1779
Painting by George Romney after Rhodes, see NPG 80.
1783
Painting by Mather Brown, half length with a watermill wheel behind him. Commissioned by one of Smeaton's clients, Mr Hilbert. A weak version was with M. Cusack in 1930. Smeaton’s cousin, the watchmaker John Holmes, introduced him to Brown in July 1783 (D. Evans, Mather Brown: an early American artist in England, 1982, pp 93-94; no.170). A weak version was with M. Cusack in 1930.
A copy, in which the Eddystone lighthouse replaced the waterwheel, was commissioned by Smeaton’s friend Alexander Aubert FRS c.1788 and presented to the Royal Society 1799 (illus. D. Evans, Mather Brown: an early American artist in England, 1982, no.171). Exhibited Art Treasures, Manchester, 1857 (BPG 257); Second special exhibition of National Portraits (William and Mary to MDCCC), South Kensington, 1867 (678). The many engravings include those by W. Bromley 1790, 1792, 1798, and R. Woodman (from an original picture ascribed to Mortimer in the possession of the Royal Society). Copies sold Sotheby’s, 1 November 1991, lot 434 (reduced); 18 September 1997, lot 73, and 12 February 1998, lot 211.
A version of either the Brown or the ‘Rhodes’ type, with ‘the Eddystone Lighthouse seen in the background’, was formerly with Robert Napier, West Shandon, Glasgow (cat., 1865, p 59, no.559).
c.1786-88
Painting by Thomas Gainsborough, half-length, holding a drawing of the Eddystone lighthouse. Southill (E. K. Waterhouse, Gainsborough, 1958, no.623). Smeaton had designed a bridge and constructed underground cisterns for the brewer Samuel Whitbread, with whose descendants the portrait remains. Engraved mid-19th century from a drawing by Margaret Tekusch from a picture in the possession of the Institution of Civil Engineers/The Original by Gainsborough belonging to William Whitbread. A version, the paper bearing a plan of Ramsgate Harbour (Aubert, see under Mather Brown 1783 above, was Chairman of Ramsgate Harbour development), was in the McCormack sale, American Art Assoc., New York, 3 December 1936, lot 70.
Posthumous
1897-1902
Bust by Henry Fehr. Institution of Civil Engineers, London.
The tablet to Smeaton at Whitkirk, Leeds, by Robert Cooke 1792 displays a model of the Eddystone lighthouse (illus. S. Smiles, Lives of the Engineers, 1862, II, pp 89-90).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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.