Mrs. Conwai Hackett; SMITH, John (1652 – 1743)

Mezzotint 343 x 255mm Published in London, 1690 This portrait of a beautiful young woman is based on a painting by John Riley and sets the subject in an attractive English landscape with an unusual circular building in the background. The wears a loose fitting silk dress and is placing a garland of roses and garden flowers around the neck of a docile lamb seated beside her. Little is known about the sitter, but it is thought that Conway Hackett was the daughter and sole heir of Dr. Thomas Hackett, an Irish Bishop, who married Trafford Smyth, a barrister of Middle Temple. John Smith is considered one of the finest early English mezzotinters, deciding to specialise in this technique from early in his career. Hi was sought out for commissions for numerous noble persons and also developed close working relationships with portrait painters such as Sir Godfrey Kneller to produce mezzotints of their oil paintings. Smith was also a respected subject and landscape printmaker, and widely collected on the continent during his own lifetime, with major collections of his works to be found in Paris, Dresden and Vienna. A strong and even impression on laid paper, tipped along the left margin on to backing card, two short tears along upper margin, very slight surface residue to the neck of the subject. Provenance: The Berry Collection, Melbourne