Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/422

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his principal works, though he afterwards exhibited. He was, in the latter part of his life, employed by the Queen as a copyist. He died March 13, 1870.

SMITH, Benjamin, engraver. Was a pupil of Bartolozzi, and practised in the dot manner. He gained an early reputation, which he hardly merited, ana was employed by Boydell on the Shakespeare Gallery. He engraved after West, Rigaud, Copley, Romney, and the prominent artists of his day. His pupils were largely employed on his plates. He died in Judd Place, London, in 1833.

SMITH, Charles, portrait painter. He was a native of the Orkneys, and nephew of the well-known Caleb Whitefoord. He studied his art in London. In 1789 he exhibited a portrait group at the Academy; in 1791 portraits of two young ladies dancing; in 1792 the infant Shakespeare nursed between Tragedy and Comedy. In 1793 he resided in Edinburgh, and exhibited a 'Nymph' and an 'Infant Bacchus,' and the same year went to India, where he was appointed painter to the Great Mogul. In 1796 he had returned to London, and exhibited an 'Andromeda,' and in 1797 'Cymon and Iphigenia,' and some other works, his last contributions. He wrote a musical entertainment, in two acts, 'A Trip to Bengal,' published in 1802. Died at Leith, December 19, 1824, aged 75. There is a small portrait of him, etched by himself, and two mezzo-tint engravings of him from a portrait painted by himself.

SMITH; Charles Harriot, architect. Was born in London, February 1, 1792, the son of a respectable stone-mason, and was employed in that business, devoting himself, after the ordinary hours of work, to drawing and modelling, his chief employment being in stone-carving. He soon met with encouragement, and, gaining admission to the schools of the Royal Academy, he applied himself to the study of architecture, both classic and Gothic, and in 1817 he gained the Academy gold medal for his ' Design for a Royal Academy.' Of studious habits, he became an archaeologist, and acquired a knowledge of geology, mineralogy, and chemistry. He was appointed a member of the Royal Commission to determine the best quarry to supply the stone for building the new Houses of Parliament; and was in 1855 elected a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He exhibited at the Academy designs in architecture, models, and portrait busts; was a lecturer, and wrote an essay on linear and aerial perspective in Arnold's ' Library of the Fine Arts.' He died October 21, 1864.

SMITH. Charles John, F.S.A., engraver. Was born in 1803 at Chelsea, where his father practised as a surgeon. At the age of 16 he was apprenticed to Charles Pye, the engraver. On the expiration of his term, he was chiefly employed in the illustration of topographical and antiquarian works—Cartwright's 'Rape of Bramber,' Stothard's 'Sepulchral Effigies,' Dibdin's 'English Tour,' and publications of the same class. He engraved also a series of 'Autographs of Royal. Noble, and Illustrious Persons;' and had proceeded as far as the sixth number of a work, 'Historical and Literary Curiosities '; when, in apparently perfect health, he was attacked by paralysis, and died November 23, 1838.

SMITH, Colvin, R.S.A., portrait painter. Was born at Brechin in 1795, where his father was a merchant. He was sent to London to learn his art, and entered the schools of the Royal Academy. He also drew in Nolleken's studio, where Gibson was a fellow-pupil. Subsequently he visited Italy. He returned to Scotland about 1827J and settled in Edinburgh; his first exhibited work there being the portrait of the Chief Commissioner of the Royal Institution. Two years afterwards he joined the Royal Scottish Academy. He executed many portraits, one of Sir Walter Scott was so successful that he repeated it more than twenty times. He last exhibited in 1871, and died July 21, 1875.

SMITH, Edward, engraver. Finished some good plates in the line manner; 'Puck,' after Sir J. Reynolds; 'The Piper,' and 'Guess my Name,' after Wilkie. He was engaged on Finden's Royal Gallery, and engraved ' The Contadini Family Prisoners with Banditti,' after Sir Charles Eastlake.

SMITH, Edward, sculptor. Was born of a respectable family in the county of Meath, 1746, and was apprenticed to Verpyle, an inferior artist, who at that time had good employment in Dublin. His first public work was the statue of Dr. Lucas, in the Royal Exchange, Dublin, 1772, an extraordinary production for so young a man. From this time to 1802 he was little noticed. Few exhibitions were in the interval held in Dublin, and from size and other considerations his works were unsuited to exhibition, for he was chiefly employed on chimney-pieces, tablets, and ornamental designs. On the arrival of Gandon, the architect, in Dublin, he fully appreciated and employed him. He modelled 12 designs representing the rivers of Ireland, to decorate the Dublin Custom House. He designed for the noble portico of the Four Courts—'Clemency,' 'Justice,' 'Moses,' 'Mercy,' and 'Minerva,' works of incontestable merit, and some large emblematic figures in bas-relief for the interior of the dome. Also, two caryatide figures and two groups in bas-relief for the King's Inn. 'hese works were all executed for Gandon, as were also the corbel ornaments, the heads for the key-stones, and the admirable groups

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