JOHN FABER the ELDER (DUTCH c.1650/60-1721)
Portrait miniature of John Boyd (d.1699), Regent of Glasgow University (from 1672), wearing lace shirt, robes and wig
signed and dated, JFaber/ 1698, lower left, and inscribed in a later hand verso, Portrait/ of/ John Boyd/ Pen drawing by Faber/ done in 1698
pen and black ink on vellum
turned wood frame, probably the original
oval, 70mm (2.7 in) high

PROVENANCE:
By family descent

The present portrait of John Boyd, Regent of Glasgow University, was made when Faber was living in England. Arriving from The Hague in 1696, Faber settled in London and soon gained royal commissions.

The technique known as plumbago or monochromatic portrait became popular amongst academic patrons in the later 17th century. Intellectual curiosity and connoisseurship of prints persuaded many academics, connected to universities, to commission their own portraits drawn in a style that evoked the fine detailed lines of engravings. This was a period when prints were avidly collected. In 1707 Faber himself set up his own business selling prints on the Strand and later moved to larger premises.

It is probable that John Boyd commissioned his portrait from Faber on a visit to London in 1698, a year before his death. He may have intended to further commission an engraving from this pen and ink drawing to include as a frontispiece in his published works.