A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery, 1768

Not on View

Medium

mezzotint on laid paper

Dimensions

plate: 44.6 x 58.1 cm (17 9/16 x 22 7/8 in.)

sheet: 49.1 x 59.4 cm (19 5/16 x 23 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Paul Mellon Fund

Catalogue Raisonné

Smith 1884, no. 48, State ii/iii

Accession Number

2001.96.12

Artists / Makers

William Pether (artist) British, 1739 - 1821

Joseph Wright (artist after) British, 1734 - 1797

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

lower left in plate: Josh. Wright Pinxt.; lower center in plate: J Boydell Exct.; lower right in plate: Wm. Pether fecit 1768;by later hand, verso in graphite: lr. exhibited Tate 1990 no. 1 / p44130; by later hand, lower center verso in graphite: 731

Provenance

Christopher Lennox-Boyd; (C. G. Boerner Limited, New York); purchased 2001 by NGA.

Associated Names

Artemis Fine Arts Inc.

Exhibition History

1990: Joseph Wright of Derby: 1734 - 1797, Tate Gallery, London, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no. 1.

2004: Six Centuries of Prints and Drawings: Recent Acquisitions, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2004 - 2005

2022: Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, 2022-2023.

Bibliography

1884: Smith, John Chaloner. British mezzotinto portraits, being a descriptive catalogue of these engravings from the introduction of the art to the early part of the present century. 4 vols. London: Henry Sotheran and Co., 1884.

1926: Russell, Charles Edward. English Mezzotint Portraits and Their States. 2 vols. London: Halton and Truscott Smith, Ltd., 1926.

1990: Clayton, Tim. "Catalogue of Engraved Works," in Wright of Derby. London, 1990: 231-258.

2001: C. G. Boerner Ltd. Mezzotints from the Collection of Christopher Lennox-Boyd. London, 2001: no. 16.