Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Collins, Samuel (fl.1750-1780)
COLLINS, SAMUEL (fl. 1750–1780), miniature-painter, son of a clergyman at Bristol, was originally educated as an attorney, but quitted this profession and became a miniature-painter. He settled at Bath, where he soon obtained a very large practice, and gained the reputation of one of the most perfect miniature-painters in this country. He had numerous pupils, among whom was Ozias Humphry [q. v.], to whom he eventually relinquished his practice at Bath. He then removed to Dublin and enjoyed a high reputation there. He painted both on enamel and on ivory. Portraits by him of George III and of the second Viscount Gage were exhibited at the Special Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures in 1865.
[Redgrave's Dict. of English Artists; Pasquin's History of Painting in Ireland; Cat. of Special Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures, 1865.]