File:Portrait of an unknown gentleman (previously identified as Nevil Maskelyne) RMG BHC2854.tiff

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John Downman: Portrait of an unknown gentleman (previously identified as Nevil Maskelyne)  wikidata:Q50903531 reasonator:Q50903531
Artist
John Downman  (1749–1824)  wikidata:Q2662652
 
John Downman
Alternative names
John Dowman; j. downman; downman john; downman j.; Downman
Description Welsh painter
Date of birth/death 1749 Edit this at Wikidata 24 December 1824
Location of birth/death Believed to be near Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom Wrexham, Wales, United Kingdom
Work location
Exeter (1807–1808), London, Chester (1818–1819), Wrexham (1819–1824)
Authority file
creator QS:P170,Q2662652
 Edit this at Wikidata
image of artwork listed in title parameter on this page
Title
Portrait of an unknown gentleman (previously identified as Nevil Maskelyne)
Object type painting Edit this at Wikidata
Genre portrait Edit this at Wikidata
Description
Description
English: Although acquired as a portrait of Nevil Maskelyne, fifth Astronomer Royal at Greenwich (1765 -1811), the late Derek Howse, former Head of Astronomy at NMM and Maskelyne's biographer, firmly believed that this received attribution was wrong, given the sitter's dissimilarity to Louis van der Puyl's Maskelyne portrait of 1785 owned by the Royal Society. The latter shows him in clerical dress against the background of the Royal Observatory but is itself rather untypical in suggesting sharper features than Maskeyne had, compared to other portraits more recently added to the NMM collection. These include an oil of 1804 by John Russell (ZBA5100) and a miniature of 1801 (ZBA5688), both also showing him in black clerical dress, as one would expect in formal images. These and the Museum's undated head study in pastel by Russell (ZBA4305) confirm the matter by clearly showing Maskelyne had blue eyes while the sitter's here are hazel. This otherwise fine portrait, against a suitably learned or senatorial classical column, is therefore probably another non-clerical astronomer or theoretician, so far unidentified. He has some resemblance to George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield (1697-1764) who was an eminent amateur astronomer and President of the Royal Society from 1752 to his death, and was also painted by Hogarth. However, this is also doubtful given that Macclesfield died in 1764 and the painting is signed and dated 'Jno Downman Pinx 1779'. The book and fold-out planetary plate that he holds - apparently of Saturn and Jupiter - are an obvious clue to his specific interests but have not yet been identified. The van der Puyl portrait of Maskeyne is reproduced in colour in Howse, 'Greenwich Time and the Longitude', (2nd ed., NMM/Philip Wilson 1996).
Formerly called 'Nevil Maskelyne, 1732-1811, Astronomer Royal'
Date 1779 Edit this at Wikidata
Medium oil on canvas Edit this at Wikidata
Dimensions height: 91.5 cm (36 in) Edit this at Wikidata; width: 71 cm (27.9 in) Edit this at Wikidata
dimensions QS:P2048,+91.5U174728
dimensions QS:P2049,+71.0U174728
institution QS:P195,Q7374509
Current location
institution QS:P195,Q1199924
Accession number
BHC2854 (Royal Museums Greenwich) Edit this at Wikidata
Notes signed and dated 1779. A Wyndham Ogilvie Law, also known as Wyndham Law of Balgownie, Westway, High Salvington, Worthing, died on 9 February 1955: probate (effects £1577-15s-7d) was granted to his widow Florence Gloria Law in London on 21 March. He was stated to be 71 at death (born c. 1883/4). Passenger lists show he was in the Chinese Customs Service, travelling L'pool to Canada and on to China with his wife Florence, though one ref suggests her name was Mary, but if the latter was a different man his age is practically the same and also in govt. service. A Wyndham Law, son of Wyndham Ogilvie Law, barrister, and Mary Adela Amherst Law was baptised at St Saviour's Paddington on 29 September 1882. The younger Wyndham married Florence Quayle at Kensington in September 1922 (possibly a registry wedding since they seem to have had a second country one at Elham, Kent in December, presumably church).
References
Source/Photographer http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/14327
Permission
(Reusing this file)

The original artefact or artwork has been assessed as public domain by age, and faithful reproductions of the two dimensional work are also public domain. No permission is required for reuse for any purpose.

The text of this image record has been derived from the Royal Museums Greenwich catalogue and image metadata. Individual data and facts such as date, author and title are not copyrightable, but reuse of longer descriptive text from the catalogue may not be considered fair use. Reuse of the text must be attributed to the "National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London" and a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0 license may apply if not rewritten. Refer to Royal Museums Greenwich copyright.
Identifier
InfoField
Acquisition Number: 1936-32
id number: BHC2854
Collection
InfoField
Oil paintings

Licensing

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This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
Public domain

This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929.

This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".
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current22:56, 16 September 2017Thumbnail for version as of 22:56, 16 September 20172,777 × 3,600 (28.6 MB)Fæ (talk | contribs)Royal Museums Greenwich Oil paintings (1779), http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/14327 #809

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