John (John) Joshua Kirby

by John Dixon, sold by Ryland and Bryer, after Thomas Gainsborough
mezzotint, (circa 1764)
13 7/8 in. x 9 7/8 in. (353 mm x 252 mm) plate size; 14 5/8 in. x 10 3/4 in. (371 mm x 273 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D3434

Sitterback to top

(John) Joshua Kirby (1716-1774), Artist and teacher of linear perspective; friend of Thomas Gainsborough. Sitter in 7 portraits.

Artistsback to top

John Dixon (circa 1740-1811), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 47 portraits.
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), Portrait and landscape painter. Artist or producer associated with 264 portraits, Sitter in 8 portraits.
Ryland and Bryer (active 1765-1772), Engravers and printsellers. Artist or producer associated with 30 portraits.

Related worksback to top

NPG D14967: (John) Joshua Kirby (from same plate)

Placesback to top

Place made: United Kingdom: England, London (Kings Arms in Cornhill, London)

Portrait setback to top

Macdonnell Collection

Subject/Themeback to top

Mezzotint

Events of 1764back to top

Current affairs

Radical John Wilkes publishes his pornographic parody of Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man; An Essay on Woman. Parliament moves to expel him once again but Wilkes flees to Paris. He is found guilty of obscene and seditious libel in his absence and declared an outlaw.
Sugar Act levies duty on sugar, wine and textiles imported into America while the Currency Act prohibits the American colonies from issuing paper currency in any form.

Art and science

8-year old composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arrives in London with his family as part of a European tour and amazes British audiences.
Artist William Hogarth dies in London.
Connoisseur and collector Horace Walpole publishes The Castle of Otranto; regarded as the first gothic novel.
Lancashire weaver James Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny.

International

Catherine the Great founds the Hermitage as a court museum attached to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg.
Nawab of Bengal Mir Qasim increasingly independent of the British and rebuilds Bengal's army. He captures the British garrison at Patna and executes his hostages. British forces are victorious at the decisive Battle of Buxar. Mir Qasim flees into exile in Delhi where he later dies.
Jesuits are expelled from France.

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