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Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Joseph Wilton (1722-1803), Sculptor
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
Sculptor; studied in Paris from 1744 and in Italy 1747-55; Sculptor to the King 1761; executed the General Wolfe monument in Westminster Abbey 1773; foundation member of the RA 1768, librarian 1786 and keeper 1790.
‘Mr Wilton was in height about five feet ten inches, portly and well-looking: he always dressed in the height of fashion, and for many years wore a bag-wig, which, in his latter days, he changed for one with a long tail, and walked, as Gay might have said, with dignity and a gold-headed cane. As to his manners, they were perfectly gentlemanlike, which rendered him an agreeable companion' (J. T. Smith, 1828).
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.
‘Mr Wilton was in height about five feet ten inches, portly and well-looking: he always dressed in the height of fashion, and for many years wore a bag-wig, which, in his latter days, he changed for one with a long tail, and walked, as Gay might have said, with dignity and a gold-headed cane. As to his manners, they were perfectly gentlemanlike, which rendered him an agreeable companion' (J. T. Smith, 1828).
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.