Joseph Kelway
- Overview
- Extended catalogue entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Joseph Kelway
by John Russell, after Andrea Soldi
1776
24 in. x 18 3/4 in. (610 mm x 476 mm) oval
NPG 4213
Inscriptionback to top
Signed I. Russell in light green above shoulder, with the date 1776 faintly visible in black below
This portraitback to top
The identity is founded on the provenance. Although Russell’s signature appears genuine and a date has been read, NPG 4213 clearly derives from the earlier three-quarter length portrait by Andrea Soldi.
Physical descriptionback to top
Brown eyes, grey powdered hair with black ribbon, wearing a grey coat, pink waistcoat and white shirt.
Provenanceback to top
[Commissioned by George III for Samuel Wesley, his Court Musician, together with pastels of Handel, Corelli and see Boyce NPG 4212; thence to the Simms family ‘in payment of a debt’1] Miss Leat, Yelverton, 1915; Mrs Mary Simms, Yelverton, from whom purchased 1961.
1 This provenance was given by Mary Simms in letters of 19 January and 6 February 1961.
Exhibitionsback to top
Beningbrough 1979-.
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.
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