David Paton was a Scottish artist active between 1660–1700. He is known for his high quality

Portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

s and is considered one of the best draughtsmen in late seventeenth-century Britain. He worked mainly in

plumbago ''Plumbago'' is a genus of 10–20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus '' Cerat ...

, pencil and

sepia Sepia may refer to: Biology * ''Sepia'' (genus), a genus of cuttlefish Color * Sepia (color), a reddish-brown color * Sepia tone, a photography technique Music * ''Sepia'', a 2001 album by Coco Mbassi * ''Sepia'' (album) by Yu Takahashi * " ...

, but also painted portraits in

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

Biography

His earliest known works are copies of oils formerly in the collection of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

Giovanni Cariani Giovanni Cariani (c. 1490–1547), also known as Giovanni Busi or Il Cariani, was an Italian painter of the high-Renaissance, active in Venice and the Venetian mainland, including Bergamo, thought to be his native city. Overview His father, ...

and

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

dating from 1667. Paton also copied works of older contemporary

Samuel Cooper Samuel or Sam Cooper may refer to: *Samuel Cooper (painter) (1609–1672), English miniature painter *Samuel Cooper (clergyman) (1725–1783), Congregationalist minister in Boston, Massachusetts * Samuel Cooper (surgeon) (1780–1848), English surge ...

including the famous 1665 large rectangular miniature of Charles II. One copy, signed and dated 1668, is at

Ham House Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan cou ...

, the other, a year later, is in the collection of the

duke of Buccleuch Duke of Buccleuch (pronounced ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and second suo jure for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Cou ...

A copy by Paton after the miniature of

William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart (1600? – December, 1655), was the childhood whipping boy of Charles I of England and later, an adviser to the king. Early life Born about 1600, Murray was son of William Murray (1561?–1616), minister of D ...

, attributed to

David des Granges David des Granges (baptised 1611, d. in or before c.1672) was an Anglo-French miniature painter. Life The son of Samson de Granges and his wife Marie Bouvier, he was baptised twice on 24 March 1611, at the French church on Threadneedle Street, a ...

, is also at Ham House as are both the original and Paton's copy of John Hoskins' large rectangular

limning A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century el ...

of Murray's wife; Katherine Bruce, dated 1638. Paton is known to have been in Italy in the 1670s and 1680s with The Hon. William Tollemache (1662–1694), the youngest son of his patron, Murray's daughter;

Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, 2nd Countess of Dysart (''née'' Murray; 28 September 1626 – 5 June 1698) was a Scottish noblewoman. In her own right she was the Countess of Dysart and from the date of her remarriage in 1672 the Duc ...

, on his

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

. Paton's self-portrait, a miniature dated 1683, is held in the collection of the

Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

, Florence. Following the tour, Paton appears to have worked mainly in Edinburgh. Perhaps Paton's most notable work, ''The Yester Lords'' dates from this period, now thought to depict John Maitland, and his younger brother Charles (c.1620–1691) and not, as previously believed, members of the Hay family, who lived at

Yester House Yester House is an early 18th-century mansion near Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. It was the home of the Hay family, later Marquesses of Tweeddale, from the 15th century until the late 1960s. Construction of the present house began in 1699 ...

Paton's other works of the period include Jacobite leader John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount (‘Bonnie’) Dundee, Charles II; James Scott, First Earl of Dalkeith; Sir

John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair PC (10 November 1648 – 8 January 1707) was a Scottish politician and lawyer. As Joint Secretary of State in Scotland 1691–1695, he played a key role in suppressing the 1689-1692 Jacobite Rising and was for ...

; and

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

(1695), Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, First Baronet,

Charles Stuart, 4th Earl of Traquair Earl of Traquair (pronounced "Tra-''quare''") was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1633 for John Stewart, Lord Stewart of Traquair. The family seat was Traquair House. Stewart had been created Lord Stewart of Traquair in ...

and his wife, Mary Maxwell, Countess of Traquair. Three groups, each containing five small medallion portraits (chiefly of members of the Hamilton family), which were at

Hamilton Palace Hamilton Palace was a country house in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The former seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, it dated from the 14th century and was subsequently much enlarged in the 17th and 19th centuries.James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry and 1st Duke of Dover (18 December 16626 July 1711) was a Scottish nobleman. Life He was the eldest son of William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry and his wife Isabel Douglas, daughter of William Douglas ...

, and £5 16''s''. from the same source the year after. A portrait of General

Tam Dalyell of the Binns Sir Thomas Dalyell of The Binns, 1st Baronet (1615–1685) was a Scottish Royalist general in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known by the soubriquets "Bluidy Tam" and "The Muscovite De'il". Life Dalyell was born in Linlithgowshire, th ...

was also ascribed to Paton. Other works include a portrait of

Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the great ...

sent to

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinan ...

in 1708, his last documented work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paton, David Portrait miniaturists 17th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters 1700s deaths