Captain Pulteney Malcolm of the Donegal

Maker John Smart (British, 1741-1811)

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Date1809

Mediumpencil and wash

Dimensions4 7/8 × 4 1/4 in. (12.4 × 10.8 cm.) sheet: 6 × 5 1/2 in. (15.2 × 14 cm.) mat: 19 × 12 1/2 in. (48.3 × 31.8 cm.)

SignedSignature; John Smart delint

InscribedInscribed and dated: Captn Pultney [sic] Malcolm of the Donegal 1809

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Sir Bruce Ingram Collection

Label TextA painter of miniatures, John Smart also produced detailed drawings such as these portraits of commanding officers of the British navy. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, British hostilities with France continued during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. British ships engaged the French enemy and her allies from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. Portraits of naval commanders served not only as tributes to these British heroes, but also as individual mementos of loved ones. For those who remained at home, Smart's delicate pen and pencil strokes captured the likenesses of those men who risked their lives at sea.

Status

Not on view

Object number63.52.235

Terms