John Smart, Portrait of a Man, 1779

Chicago:

Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, “John Smart, Portrait of a Man, 1779,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 4, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1554.

MLA:

Marcereau DeGalan, Aimee. “John Smart, Portrait of a Man, 1779,” catalogue entry. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan. The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, edited by Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, vol. 4, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. doi: 10.37764/8322.5.1554.

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

This portrait presents a handsome unidentified sitter in a plum frock coat with a turned-down collar, worn over a green broadcloth waistcoat. Beneath this, he wears a high-collared white shirt with a lace stock. The man is depicted in three-quarters view, turning slightly over his left shoulder, with his hair powdered and styled en queue. With its muted gray-brown background, the composition highlights the sitter’s dignified posture and refined appearance.

Formerly part of the distinguished collection of Francis Chalmers, Esq. (1869–1945), senior partner at the law firm of Skene, Edwards, and Garson in Edinburgh and a member of the Society of Antiquaries, the miniature was one of many in Chalmers’s extensive holdings. An avid collector, Chalmers sought out portraits of sitters with striking appearances or notable social standing.¹ Most of his collection, including the present miniature, was dispersed through public auction following his death in 1945.² This particular miniature was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1943, during Chalmers’s lifetime.³

The appeal of this portrait likely stems from the sitter’s elegant demeanor and finely tailored attire, both of which would have resonated with Chalmers’s keen eye for attractive and distinguished subjects. Whether admired for these qualities alone or for reasons now lost to history, the portrait clearly met the high aesthetic standards of Chalmers’s collection. It serves as a testament to how miniatures were collected and appreciated for their aesthetic beauty, regardless of the sitter’s specific identity.

Notes

1. See Chalmers’s obituary in the Edinburgh Evening News, September 29, 1945, 3. Chalmers had a large collection of miniatures, many of which were from the eighteenth century, including examples by George Engleheart (Portrait of Master Joseph May, 1809, watercolor and bodycolor on ivory, gilt metal frame, 3 7/16 x 2 5/8 in [8.4 x 6.8 cm], https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/miniatures-part-2-l19323/lot.158.html) and Henry Pierce Bone (Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington [1769–1852], 1842, enamel on copper, 5 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. [14.7 x 12.2 cm], https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-1923939).

2. Christie’s, London “Catalogue of Miniatures, the Property of Francis Chalmers, Esq., W.S., deceased, of 20, Corrennie Gardens, Edinburgh,” January 29, 1946.

3. Sotheby’s, London, “Sale of Robert H. Rockliff, Esq.,” November 11, 1947, lot 127, lists the miniature as “A Good Miniature of a Man, by John Smart, signed and dated 1779, three-quarters dexter, gaze directed at spectator, hair en queue, in brown coat, lime-green vest and white stock and cravat, 1 5/8 in.; in pearl bordered frame. From the Collection of the late Francis Chalmers, Esq. W.S. Exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours, 1943.” There is no published catalogue for an exhibition from the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours from this date. It is possible that it was a small show without a catalogue.

Francis Chalmers (1869–1945), Edinburgh, by January 23, 1942–1945 [1];

Purchased from his posthumous sale, Miniatures, Christie’s, London, January 29, 1946, lot 77, as Portrait of a Gentleman, by Hans Edmund Backer, 1946 [2];

Robert H. Rockliff (1893–1963), Eastbourne, by November 11, 1947;

Purchased from his sale, Fine Portrait Miniatures, Enamels, and Snuff Boxes, Sotheby’s, London, November 11, 1947, lot 127, as Miniature of a Man, by Frank Partridge (1875–1953), 1947 [3];

Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, by 1965;

Their gift through the Starr Foundation to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1965.

Notes

[1] Chalmers exhibited the work at the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water-Colours in 1943, according to Nelson-Atkins correspondence between Lesley Nicholl and Andrea Rico, February 10–11, 2005, NAMA curatorial files.

[2] According to the lot description, “Portrait of a gentleman, three-quarter face to the right, in plum-coloured coat, green vest and frilled cravat, his hair powdered–by John Smart, signed with initials and dated 1779–in pearl locket.” According to Art Prices Current 24 (1945–46), “Bacher” bought lot 77 for £65. Bacher is most likely a misspelling of Backer, a dealer of portrait miniatures. H. E. Backer seems to be the name Backer used professionally, but his full name is Hans Edmund Backer, and he was a London and Rome-based art dealer. Backer sometimes bid for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

[3] According to the lot description, “A Good Miniature of a Man, by John Smart, signed and dated 1779, three-quarters dexter, gaze directed at spectator, hair en queue, in brown coat, lime-green vest and white stock and cravat, 1 5/8 in.; in pearl bordered frame.” According to an attached price list, F. Patridge bought lot 127 for £95. Patridge was a British art dealer and interior decorator.

Sixty-Third Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water-Colours, January 23, 1942–March 13, 1943, no cat., no. 66, as Portrait of Gentleman.

John Smart—Miniaturist: 1741/2–1811, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, December 9, 1965–January 2, 1966, no cat., as Gentleman.

The Starr Foundation Collection of Miniatures, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, December 8, 1972–January 14, 1973, no cat., no. 105, as Unknown Man.

John Smart: Virtuoso in Miniature, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, December 21, 2024–January 4, 2026, no cat., as Portrait of a Man.

Catalogue of Miniatures (London: Christie’s, January 29, 1946), 9.

Catalogue of Fine Portrait Miniatures, Enamels, and Snuff Boxes (London: Sotheby’s, November 11, 1947), 18, (repro.).

Daphne Foskett, “Miniatures by John Smart,” Antiques 90, no. 3 (September 1966): 354, (repro.), as Unidentified Man.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 105, p. 39, (repro.), as Unknown Man.