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The Honble Thomas Smith, Esq., Rear Admiral of the Red
Private Collection, England
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John Faber the Younger (c.1684-1756) after Wilson
The Honble Thomas Smith, Esq., Rear Admiral of the Red
c.1746
Mezzotint
362 x 255 mm
14 1/4 x 10 in.
Private Collection, England
E1B
Three-quarter length portrait of Admiral Thomas Smith, standing leaning with his left elbow on the base of a broken column, holding a telescope in front of him, left knee bent and advanced, right hand on his hip, wearing a coat with large decorations around the buttons open over a silk jacket and a long wig. There are distant sails in the background to the left (unrecorded state).
Grosvenor Prints, Covent Garden; bt 28 February 2012 by present owner
Lettered with title, 'The Honble Thomas Smith Esq. [continuing] Rear Admiral of the Red / Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Ships on the Coast of Scotland, Anno 1746', the Lyttelton coat of arms with the motto 'Ung Dieu et Ung Roy', and 'R. Wilson pinxt. / I. Faber fecit / Price 2s. London. Sold by Faber of the Golden Head in Bloomsbury Square'
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The sitter's great-nephew, John Thomas Smith, Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, mentions 'a spirited half-length portrait, painted by the celebrated Richard Wilson [...] from which picture there is an excellent engraving in mezzotinto, by Faber.' (see bibliography).

The rank of Rear Admiral of the Red was two grades below that of Vice Admiral of the White so it must be assumed that this is a very early state of the print. It does not feature in the catalogues of Chaloner Smith or Rusell.
J.T. Smith, A Book for a Rainy Day, 1845, pp. 3-4; Chaloner Smith, vol. 1, p. 426, cat. 333, variation of state I; Russell p. 96, cat. 333, variation of state I; sale cat., The Lyttelton Papers, Sotheby's London, 12 December 1978 p.101 (cat. 79)