(John) Joshua Kirby
© National Portrait Gallery, London
(John) Joshua Kirby
by John Dixon, sold by Ryland and Bryer, after Thomas Gainsborough
mezzotint, (circa 1764)
13 7/8 in. x 10 in. (353 mm x 253 mm) plate size; 15 3/8 in. x 11 1/2 in. (389 mm x 292 mm) paper size
Bequeathed by (Frederick) Leverton Harris, 1927
Reference Collection
NPG D14967
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 268 portraits, Sitter in 8 portraits.
- Ryland and Bryer (active 1765-1772), Engravers and printsellers. Artist or producer associated with 30 portraits.
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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