John Smart, Portrait of a Man, 1788

Chicago:

Maggie Keenan, “John Smart, Portrait of a Man, 1788,” 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/10.37764/8322.5.1586.

MLA:

Keenan, Maggie. “John Smart, Portrait of a Man, 1788,” 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: 10.37764/8322.5.1586.

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

This portrait entered the Nelson-Atkins as Portrait of a Man, but provenance research revealed a possible sitter: John Philpot Curran (1750–1817).¹ The work first appeared in Jeffery Whitehead’s (1831–1915) collection in 1879, when he exhibited it as Portrait of a Gentleman.² Ten years later he exhibited it again with an updated title, The Right Honorable John Philpot Curran.³ However, a portrait of Philpot Curran at the National Portrait Gallery in London portrays a man with short, unpowdered hair; dark eyes; a sharp, upturned nose; and other characteristics that vary greatly from the features of the individual in Smart’s portrait (Fig. 1).⁴

Adding false attributions was not unusual for Whitehead (or other collectors and dealers of his day), as it made miniatures more marketable. He likely did the same thing with his 1791 portrait by Smart, formerly titled Portrait of Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth and now called Portrait of a Man. Although these two portraits depict unknown men, they are unique in another way. We know from the inscribed dates that Smart painted both miniatures in India, and yet they lack his hallmark “I” inscription. It remains unclear if the I’s were omitted or removed, but it seems unusual that an artist so attentive to detail would fail to include this standard part of his signature.⁵

Although the present sitter no longer has a named identity, he was most likely an Honourable East India Company (HEIC) employee, as was the case with many of Smart’s clients during his India tenure (1785–1795). Smart depicts him with ruddy skin possibly affected by the Indian sun. His rosy skin diverges from the patchwork of blue throughout his face, reiterated in the veiny lines scattered throughout his ruffled cravat. Other distinguishing facial features include a cleft chin, sagging eyelids, and a mole on either side of his mouth, but most prominent is a snake-like vein that pops at the man’s temple. A protruding forehead vein may be a sign of stress or high blood pressure, perhaps alluding to an intense Madras-based profession.

Notes

1. The Witt Library at the Courtauld Institute of Art reproduces this miniature in their records, along with a cut-out from a Sotheby’s auction catalogue of July 19, 1934, which describes the miniature as “Rt. Hon. John Philpot Curran.” Digitized records in NAMA curatorial files.

2. See Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School, Including Oil Paintings, Miniatures, and Drawings: Winter Exhibition (London: William Clowes and Sons, 1879), 65, no. 26, as Portrait of a Gentleman, signed and dated “J.S. 1788.” The case interior is inscribed “gent / blue coat,” which may have been scratched in by a dealer or auction house to identify the miniature. This suggests an anonymous identity and not John Philpot Curran. Although the case inscription is nearly illegible, it probably says “Top,” probably to indicate which way to orient the frame if, or when, the miniature was removed. According to Carol Aiken, conservation treatment report, 2018, NAMA curatorial files.

3. Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures (London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1889), 35, no. 21.

4. For additional likenesses of Philpot Curran, see Sir Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of John Philpot Curran, 1799, oil on canvas, 28 3/4 x 24 in. (73 x 61 cm), National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, NGI.520; John Comerford, Portrait of John Philpot Curran, ca. 1809, oil on canvas, 5 1/16 x 4 1/8 in. (12.9 x 10.5 cm), National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, NGI.820.

5. In 2024, conservator Stephanie Spence took photomicrographs of both inscribed dates, and aside from some wear-and-tear scratches that are typical in Georgian-era miniatures, there does not appear to be any obvious water damage or paint removal to the portrait. Notes in NAMA curatorial files.

Jeffery Ludlam Barton Whitehead (1831–1915), Kent, England, by 1879–at least 1889 [1];

Lady Alice Northcote (1853/54–1934), London, by June 1, 1934;

Purchased from her posthumous sale, Valuable Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, July 19, 1934, lot 72, as Rt. Hon. John Philpot Curran, by Sir St. Clair Thomson (1859–1943), London and Edinburgh, 1934–1943 [2];

Purchased from Thomson’s posthumous sale, Valuable Miniatures, Watches, Objects of Vertu, Etc., Sotheby’s, London, November 9, 1944, lot 84, as A Gentleman, called John Philpot Curran, by Asprey, London, 1944 [3];

W. C. Ames, by February 18, 1958;

Purchased from their sale, Fine English 18th Century Miniatures, Christie’s, London, February 18, 1958, lot 93, as Portrait of a Gentleman, by Webster, 1958 [4];

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

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1965.

Notes

[1] Whitehead lent the work to Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School, Including Oil Paintings, Miniatures, and Drawings, Royal Academy of the Arts, London, January 6–March 15, 1879, and to Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1889.

[2] The 1934 sales catalogue lot description states, “A Fine Miniature of the Rt. Hon. John Philpot Curran, by John Smart, three-quarters dexter, gaze directed at spectator, in blue coat, signed and dated ‘J.S.,’ 1788, 2 3/8 in.” Thomson bought lot 72 for 36 pounds. Sir St. Clair Thomson was a British surgeon and professor of laryngology.

[3] The 1944 sales catalogue lot description states, “A Miniature of a Gentleman, called John Philpot Curran by John Smart, signed and dated 1788, three-quarters dexter, gaze directed at spectator, hair en queue, in white cravat and vest and rich blue coat, 2 3/8[?]. From the Whitehead and Northcote Collections. Exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1889, cat. p. 34. From the Northcote Collection, Sotheby’s, 19th July, 1934, lot 72. [See Frontispiece].” According to Art Prices Current (1944–1945), Asprey bought lot 84 for 60 pounds.

[4] The 1958 sales catalogue lot description states, “Portrait of a Gentleman, by John Smart, signed with initials and dated 1788, three-quarter face to the left, with gaze directed at the artist, in blue coat with white waistcoat and cravat and with powdered hair–oval–2 3/8in. high–in engraved gold frame. See frontispiece.” According to Art Prices Current 35 (1957–58), “Webster” bought lot 93 for 210 pounds.

John Comerford, Portrait of John Philpot Curran, Esq., 1805, watercolor on ivory, 2 3/4 in. (7 cm) high, sold at Christie’s, London, Objects of Art and Vertu, Miniatures, Coins and Watches, Decorative Objects, July 28, 1952, lot 29.

Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School, Including Oil Paintings, Miniatures, and Drawings: Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of the Arts, London, January 6–March 15, 1879, case P, no. 26, as Portrait of a Gentleman.

Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1889, case X, no. 21, as The Right Honorable John Philpot Curran.

An Historical Collection of Miniatures and Enamels, Fine Arts Society, London, 1892, no. 355, as The Right Honourable John Philpot Curran.

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. 120, 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.

Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School, Including Oil Paintings, Miniatures, and Drawings: Winter Exhibition, exh. cat. (London: William Clowes and Sons, 1879), 65, as Portrait of a Gentleman.

Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures (London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1889), 35, as The Right Honorable John Philpot Curran.

Catalogue of an Historical Collection of Miniatures and Enamels (London: Fine Arts Society, 1892), 46, as The Right Honourable John Philpot Curran.

Catalogue of Valuable Portrait Miniatures (London: Sotheby’s, July 19, 1934), 12, (repro.), as Rt. Hon. John Philpot Curran.

Catalogue of Valuable Miniatures, Watches, Objects of Vertu, Etc. (London: Sotheby’s, November 9, 1944), 10, (repro.), as A Gentleman, called John Philpot Curran.

Apollo: The Magazine of the Arts for Connoisseurs and Collectors (February 1958): iii, (repro.).

Catalogue of Fine English 18th Century Miniatures (London: Christie’s, February 18, 1958), 18, (repro.), as Portrait of a Gentleman.

Daphne Foskett, John Smart: The Man and His Miniatures (London: Cory, Adams, and Mackay, 1964), 65, as Rt. Hon. John Philpot Curran.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 120, p. 43, (repro.), as Unknown Man.