Code: 11507
Dimensions:
"Martin Folkes Esqr" (1690-1754)
Engraved by William Hogarth (1697-1764)
After his own portrait of the subject
Etching and line engraving
Published circa 1741
On paper
Measures:-
Plate: 33.6 cm high x 24.2 cm wide
Sheet: 35 cm x 25.5 cm (approx)
Framed: 57 cm high x 46 cm wide
Lettered beneath the image "Martin Folkes Esq" with the publication line "Wm.Hogarth Pinxt et Sculpt".
Portrait seated slightly to left, half-length with his right hand raised, eyes to front, wearing long wig, and open jacket over waistcoat; a pedestal with base of broken column in background to the left; after the painting owned by the Royal Society, London; lettered state with artist's name.
Etching and engraving.
The mathematician, astronomer, antiquary and connoisseur Martin Folkes was elected to the Royal Society at the age of 23. An eminent Enlightenment figure, he was a protégé of Sir Isaac Newton, a great propagater of his theories and served as Vice President of the Royal Society under him. He eventually became president President of the Royal Society himself from 1741-1753, after the retirement of Sir Hans Sloane, and also served as President of the Society of Antiquaries from 1749-1754 (he is the only person to have served as President of both learned societies). He tried to bring science and the arts closer together and, if he had succeeded, the two strains of learning might, perhaps, be more united than they are today. He was also a governor of Thomas Coram's 'Foundling Hospital' and a notable Freemason.
Folkes had undertaken a 'Grand Tour' in 1733 and it is probably his interest in Classical antiquity to which Hogarth alludes through the inclusion of the broken column to the left of the image. He was wealthy and well-connected, his friend the Duke of Richmond described him as "one of the most learned and at the same time most agreeable men in Europe". Hogarth conveys some of this intelligence and affability in this portrait engraving, made in around 1741 after his own portrait of Folkes (in the collection of the Royal Society).
Folkes is best known today for his cataloguing of the historic gold and silver coins of England. After his death the sale of the great library he had amassed lasted for fifty-six days. A very fine memorial to him can be found in Westminster Abbey.
A man who should be much better known, a long-overdue biography of Folkes (the first full-length profile), written by Anna Marie Roos, was published by Oxford University Press in 2021.
See BM 1853,0112.1424 for an impression trimmed to the platemark.
Very good, clean condition. Possibly a 19th Century impression. Very well presented, framed and glazed. In a sensitive Hogarth style frame with a cream mount. Ready to hang.
