Alexander McKellar, or
“The Cock o’ The Green”
An Antique Print by John Kay, 1803
Print Title: Alexander McKellar, or “The Cock o’ the Green” - Antique Print by John Kay, dated 1803
Plate No.: 242, Volume 2
Size: The size of the image to the plate
edge is 8.0 x 10.5 cm. Overall print size including the margins is approximately
21 x 27 cm.
Provenance /Publisher: This is a plate taken from ‘A
Series of Original Portraits and Caricature Etchings by the late John Kay,
Miniature Painter, Edinburgh, Vol. 2’. Published by Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh 1877 (See the scanned image of
the title page).
Authenticity: This is a genuine antique print.
Condition: Very Good. Heavy weight paper suitable for framing.
Biographical details: The biographical sketch that was printed with the portrait etching can be found online using the search term: Edinburgh Bookshelf Kay's Originals and choosing Volume 1 or 2 as appropriate.
About the Artist: John Kay (1742 – 1826) was a Scottish caricaturist and engraver. He was born near Dalkeith, where his father was a mason. At thirteen he was apprenticed to a barber, whom he served for six years. He then went to Edinburgh, where in 1771 he obtained the freedom of the city by joining the corporation of barber-surgeons. In 1785, induced by the favour which greeted certain attempts of his to etch in aquafortis, he took down his barber's pole and opened a small print shop in Parliament Close. His etchings chronicled all walks of life in Edinburgh society at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Having turned to etching relatively late in life, he produced many hundreds of original naïve and mostly humorous portraits of his fellow citizens.
There is an excellent short biography of Kay written by Caroline Karpinski of the Metropolitan Museum of Art online. Use the search term: Original Portraits - Metropolitan Museum of Art John Kay pdf
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