Benjamin Smith
His Most Gracious Majesty King George the Third

ArtistEnglish, active 1802–1824
CultureEnglish
Titles
  • His Most Gracious Majesty King George the Third
Date1804
Printed inLondon, England
MediumStipple engraving and engraving on wove paper
DimensionsImage: 20 7/8 × 14 15/16 in. (52.4 × 37.5 cm)
Plate: 23 3/8 × 16 1/2 in. (59.4 × 41.9 cm)
Sheet: 24 1/8 × 17 1/8 in. (61.3 × 43.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by two anonymous donors in honor of Bradley C. Brooks
Object numberB.2018.3
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Chippendale Bedroom
Exposé

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Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionThis portrait of George III (r. 1760–1820) is typical of many eighteenth-century military portraits, with the subject in uniform taking a confident pose while a servant holds a horse nearby. George III had a sixty-year reign that spanned the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), the American Revolution (1775–83), the French Revolution (1789), and the Irish Rebellion (1798). At the time this portrait was made (1799–1800), the King was in his early sixties and had suffered episodes of mental illness for many years. He wears the uniform of a general officer and the insignia of the Order of the Garter. Beechey’s portrait is today in the Royal Collection and hangs in Buckingham Palace.
Provenance[Sanders of Oxford, Oxford, England], by 2017; purchased by MFAH, 2018.
Exhibition History"Radicals and Revolutionaries: America's Founding Fathers," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 10–May 28, 2018.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image, left: Painted by S.r W.m Beechey RA
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image, right: Engraved by Benjamin Smith
Recto: Inscribed in graphite, below image, right: [illegible]
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image: HIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY KING GEORGE THE THIRD. / THIS PRINT, Engraved from a Picture painted by S.r WILLIAM BEECHEY, in his MAJESTY'S COLLECTION / Is most humbly Dedicated to Her Majesty, by her Most Dutiful & Loyal Subjects, J. & J. Boydell.
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image: Pub. Dec. 1. 1804, by J. & J. BOYDELL, at the Shakespeare Gallery, Pall Mall, & at 90, Cheapside, London.
Verso: Inscribed in graphite, top right corner: #18348 / £250
Watermark: None visible

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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