Sir Joshua Reynolds (British, 1723-1792)
Richard Yeo, ca. 1756

oil on canvas

Dimensions: 76.2 x 63.5 cm. (30 x 25 in.)

Presumably commissioned by, or given to, Richard Yeo,
Henry Graves & Co., 6 Pall Mall, London;
Their sale, London, Christie's, 27 May 1882, lot 162, when bought back by Graves & Co.;
Their sale, London, Christie's, 24 November 1894, lot 11, for £9–19s.–6d. to Franfenhause;
Catholina Lambert (1834–1923), Bella Vista Castle, Paterson, New Jersey;
His sale, New York, American Art Association, 21–24 February 1916, lot 221;
Count Vittorio Emanuele Barbaroux, circa 1950s.
Private collection, Milan

Literature:
Graves and Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A., Vol. III, London, 1899, p. 1080.
Algernon Graves, Art Sales From Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early in the Twentieth Century, Vol. II, London, 1921, p. 42
A mezzotint after this work by Arthur N Sanders (1838-active 1870), Macdonnell Collection, National Portrait Gallery, Reference NPG D36254

We are grateful to Dr Martin Postle for confirming the attribution of this work.

The sitter in this portrait was a British medallist and Chief Engraver at the Royal mint. Notably, Richard Yeo supplied patterns for the guinea and five guinea coins of George III. Here, he is presented at his desk, presumably working on his designs.

Richard Yeo emerged in the 1740s as one of Britain’s leading medallists and engravers. His reputation was established in 1746 with the official medal commemorating the Battle of Culloden, followed by further commissions celebrating the Duke of Cumberland. Early in his career he also designed the silver season tickets for Vauxhall Gardens, notable for their refined allegorical imagery.

Appointed Assistant (Second) Engraver to the Royal Mint in 1749, Yeo played a central role in developing the coinage of George III. He was promoted to Chief Engraver in 1775, producing important pattern coins and medals, several examples of which are now held in the British Museum.

Yeo was an active exhibitor at the Society of Artists and became a director before joining the group that founded the Royal Academy in 1768. As one of the few non-painters among the original Academicians, his influence is underscored by his prominent appearance in Zoffany’s Portraits of the Academicians of the Royal Academy, where he is shown examining the life model. His technical expertise also extended to materials: Reynolds’s ledger references a prized lake pigment known as “Yeo’s yellow,” supplied by the engraver.