| Method | Mezzotint |
| Artist | John Smith after William Wissing |
| Published | c. 1687 |
| Dimensions | Image 317 x 252 mm, Plate 338 x 248 mm |
| Notes |
Full-length portrait of Jane Skeffington as a young girl, seated with a lamb by her side. She wears a loose dress, which is fastened around her left arm with a jewelled clasp. Her curled hair is worn up, with a few tresses falling along the nape of her neck, and is adorned with pearls. The background is filled with a column, a curtain, rose bushes, and trees. Set to the right in the distance is the top of a building. Before inscription. Jane Hamilton (née Skeffington) was the daughter of Clotworthy Skeffington, 3rd Viscount Massereene and Rachel Hungerford. She married Sir Hans Hamilton, 2nd Baronet Hamilton of Mount Hamilton, with whom she had a daughter, Anne Hamilton. John Smith (1652 - 1743) early British mezzotinter. He was born at Daventry, Northamptonshire, about 1652. He was articled to a painter named Tillet in London, and studied mezzotint engraving under Isaac Beckett and Jan van der Vaardt. He became the favourite engraver of Sir Godfrey Kneller, whose paintings he extensively reproduced, and in whose house he is said to have lived for some time. He produced some 500 plates, 300 of which are portraits. On giving up business he retired to Northamptonshire, where he died on 17 January 1742 at the age of ninety. He was buried in the churchyard of St Peter's, Northampton, where there was a tablet to his memory and that of his wife Sarah, who died in 1717. William Wissing (1656 - 1687) was a portrait painter born in Holland. Wissing came to England 1676 as assistant to Peter Lely. After Lely's death in 1680, he inherited many of his patrons, and was the most formidable rival to Sir Godfrey Kneller until his early death in 1687 while painting a family piece at Burghley. Chaloner Smith 231 i/iii, O'Donoghue 1 Condition: Trimmed just inside the plate and overall time toning. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £300.00 |
| Stock ID | 40095 |