King George III (1738-1820) Reigned 1760-1820

Location

Country: USA
City: Washington DC
Place: British Embassy

In this mezzotint engraving after a whole-length portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, King George III wears the Windsor uniform (designed by the king himself for the use of family and friends) and the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter, with the Garter itself around his knee. The Garter is the emblem of the Order and bears the motto ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’ (‘shame upon him who thinks evil upon it’).

Thomas Gainsborough exhibited his portrait of George III and a companion portrait of Queen Charlotte at the Royal Academy in 1781. The artist’s nephew, Gainsborough Dupont, engraved this mezzotint after the king’s portrait and published it on 6 June 1790, publishing a second edition on 30 December the same year. The lettering on this example, which would have given the precise date of publication, no longer survives.

One of the founders of the 18th-century British landscape school, Thomas Gainsborough was also the creator of the so-called ‘fancy picture’, depicting rustic figures - usually children - posed in rural settings. Born in Suffolk, he studied in London from about 1739 to 1748 under the French painter and engraver Hubert Gravelot and the British painter Francis Hayman at the St Martin’s Lane Academy. Gainsborough returned to Suffolk in 1748, where he worked as a landscape and portrait painter until 1759, before moving to Bath. There he quickly developed into a much sought-after society painter. In 1774, he moved to London where he exhibited his work in his studio. He died in London in 1788.
Gainsborough Dupont was born in Suffolk, the son of a carpenter. He was the nephew of Thomas Gainsborough and was apprenticed to his uncle in Bath. In 1775 Gainsborough and Dupont relocated to London, where Dupont enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools. He made mezzotints and small-scale copies after his uncle’s paintings. After Gainsborough’s death in 1788, Dupont continued to work from his uncle’s studio. The similarity of his work to that of Gainsborough has caused problems of attribution. Dupont worked in the manner of his uncle into the 1790s, but also made original portraits in a more personal style and, from 1790, exhibited at the Royal Academy. In 1793 he moved his studio to Grafton Street. He died at about the age of 42.

People

George III (1738 - 1820)

Places

Subjects

royal portrait, male portrait, landscape C18th, 18th century costume, coat, stockings, waistcoat, breeches, shoe, King, sword, column

Materials & Techniques

mezzotint

Artist

Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788)
Gainsborough Dupont (c.1754 - 1797)

Title

King George III (1738-1820) Reigned 1760-1820

Date

published 1790

Medium

Mezzotint

Dimensions

height: 56.00 cm, width: 37.00 cm

Acquisition

Presented by Rosemary Rendel, July 1960

GAC number

5342