Benjamin Smith
His Most Gracious Majesty King George the Third

Public Domain

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Images(2)

Artist Benjamin Smith (English, active 1802–1824)English, active 1802–1824

Afterafter Sir William Beechey (British, 1753–1839)British, 1753–1839

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

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

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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