M185: Richard Nash
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© The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
| Museum number | M185 |
| Title | Richard Nash |
| Additional titles | Beau Nash
Richard 'Beau' Nash |
| Object type | In category: Pictures » Miniature |
| Date | 1750 |
| People |
Hone, Nathaniel, I (Irish painter, 1718-1784) (known) - Artist(s) |
| Place of origin | Europe » Northern Europe » British Isles » Great Britain » England |
| Condition |
Good |
| Dimensions |
8.0 cm height framed 6.9 cm width framed 5.2 cm height unframed 4.3 cm width unframed |
| Materials & techniques |
In categories: Pictures: Medium » Enamel Pictures: Support » Copper |
| Description | Half-length miniature portrait in enamel of elderly gentleman, half profile. Full dark grey wig set well back from forehead. White stock fastened with square buckle set with diamonds. Open white waistcoat embroidered with gold, mauve coat frogged in gold lace. Brownish background. Oval ebonised turned wood frame. | |||||||||
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Subject |
Portrait |
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| Notes | From 1995 Catalogue of Miniatures: "Nash was educated at Oxford. After a spell in the army, he went to Bath (1705) where he established the Assembly Rooms. He imposed a high standard of dress and of behaviour and was dubbed 'The King of Bath'. After 1745 his popularity waned and from 1758 he became a pensioner of the city. This is one of Hone's finest enamels, technically most accomplished and with a great sense of character. The somewhat florid inscription may be rendered: Under your guidance Bath flourishes in wealth and charms. Aged 76. 1750. It would have been more appropriate at an earlier period, for Nash's reign at Bath was, in effect, over by 1750.
Nathaniel Hone RA (1718-1784) Born in Dublin, Hone spent most of his working life in London. He painted miniatures in watercolour and enamel, as well as larger works in crayon and oils. Though a founder member of the Royal Academy, he subsequently quarrelled with Reynolds, its president. |
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| Literature |
Daphne Foskett Collecting Miniatures, Woodbridge, 1979, p.181, pl. 41f Graham Reynolds English Portrait Miniatures, Cambridge, 1988, p. 108, pl. 64 Daphne Foskett 'Miniaturists and Silhouettists in Bath', in Apollo, vol. 98, Nov. 1973, p. 61, fig. 10 Robert Bayne-Powell Catalogue of Miniatures in the Holburne Museum and Crafts Study Centre, Bath, 1995, no. 141, pl. IV c Philippa Bishop, Holburne Museum of Art: Souvenir Guidebook, Bath, 1999, p.18 Philip Carter 'Nash, Richard [known as Beau Nash] (1674-1761)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, ill. Vol. 40, p. 226 |
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| Muse theme | Art and Culture in Georgian Bath 1714-1830 |
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| Muse chapter |
Art and Culture in Georgian Bath 1714-1830 » Art » Miniatures and Silhouettes
Art and Culture in Georgian Bath 1714-1830 » Leisure » Assemblies, Dancing and Gambling |
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| Gallery Labels |
Richard 'Beau' Nash (1674-1762), 1750 M185 17-3-2006 Nathaniel Hone (1718-1784) |
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| Places associated with the object |
Europe » Northern Europe » British Isles » Great Britain » England » Bath
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| Method of acquisition | purchase | |||||||||
| Exhibition history |
Title of exhibition: Georgian Portraits: Seeing is Believing Title of exhibition: The Beauties of Bath: The Holburne Museum revealed |
