Sir Robert Taylor

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed in ink, verso: Sir Robert Taylor Architect Founder of the Taylor Institution/Died in 1788.

This portraitback to top

Purchased as by Ozias Humphry, [1] but NPG 1323 is a weak, anonymous copy of the three-quarter length portrait in the Taylorian, Oxford, presented by the sitter’s son in 1835, the only known type of portrait of Taylor. [2] A version, in which he wears civilian dress, belongs to the Royal Institute of British Architects. [3] The head recurs (back row, right foreground) in a painting by William Miller, The Swearing in of Nathaniel Newman as Lord Mayor of London 1782 (Guildhall Art Gallery, 55), engraved B. Smith. On the basis of the Guildhall picture, the Oxford portrait has been attributed to William Miller, an unproven but likely hypothesis. [4] A half-length oval engraving of the Oxford portrait was made as a private plate by Edmund Scott in 1789. [5]

Footnotesback to top

1) Listed in G. C. Williamson, Ozias Humphry, 1918, p 245, as attributed to Humphry.
2) Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges and County of Oxford, I, 1912, p 220, illus. pl.XXXIII, f.p.220.
3) Exhibited Second special exhibition of National Portraits (William and Mary to MDCCC), South Kensington, 1868 (886).
4) Cf. M. Binney, Sir Robert Taylor, 1984, pl.1 (NPG 1323, but described as belonging to the RIBA).
5) Listed by O’Donoghue as after (W. Miller), without explicit evidence.

Physical descriptionback to top

White powdered wig, wearing the robes of the sheriff of London, a red gown trimmed with sable with the gold chain of office, over a brown jacket; the curious quatrefoil in the right background may refer to the arms of Richard I (three lions passant guardant) set in the west window in the London Guildhall (destroyed in 1940).<sup>1

1</sup> Slightly more visible in the Taylorian portrait.

Provenanceback to top

Purchased from John Glen 1902.


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.