John Kay (1742 – 21 February 1826) was a Scottish

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Alf ...

and engraver. John Kay memorial stone

Life

He was born near Dalkeith, where his father was a mason. At 13 he was apprenticed to a

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

, whom he served for six years. He then went to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, where in 1771 he obtained the freedom of the city by joining the corporation of barber-surgeons. In 1784 he published his first caricature, of Laird Robertson. In 1785, induced by the favour which greeted certain attempts of his to etch in aquafortis, he took down his barber's pole and opened a small print shop in Parliament Close. There he continued to flourish, painting miniatures, and publishing at short intervals his sketches and caricatures of local celebrities and oddities, who abounded at that period in Edinburgh society. Kay's portraits were collected by Hugh Paton and published under the title ''A series of original portraits and caricature etchings by the late John Kay, with biographical sketches and illustrative anecdotes'' (Edinburgh, 2 vols. 4to, 1838; 8vo ed., 4 vols., 1842; new 4to ed., with additional plates, 2 vols., 1877), forming a unique record of the social life and popular habits of Edinburgh at its most interesting epoch. Kay's famous shop on the Royal Mile was destroyed during the

Great Edinburgh Fire The Great Fire of Edinburgh was one of the most destructive fires in the history of Edinburgh. It started on Monday, 15 November 1824, and lasted for five days, with two major phases. Sequence of events The fire broke out around 10pm on 15 No ...

of November 1824. He died in Edinburgh and was buried at the north end of

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...

. The British Museum has extensive holdings of his works, including two albums apparently assembled by Kay, (1) 159.b.23/4 with 343 plates & (2) 298* a.8 with 205 plates both described in the Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum

Some persons caricatured by Kay

* Hugo Arnot *

Joseph Black Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a Scottish physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glas ...

Hugh Blair Hugh Blair FRSE (7 April 1718 – 27 December 1800) was a Scottish minister of religion, author and rhetorician, considered one of the first great theorists of written discourse. As a minister of the Church of Scotland, and occupant of the ...

* Claud Irvine Boswell * John Brown *

James Burnett, Lord Monboddo James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714; died 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 176 ...

* Charles Byrne *

Alexander Carlyle Alexander Carlyle MA DD FRSE (26 January 172228 August 1805) was a Scottish church leader, and autobiographer. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1770/71. Life He was born on 26 January 1722 in the m ...

* James Donaldson *

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...

Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville (14 March 1771 – 10 June 1851) was a British statesman, the son of Henry Dundas, the 1st Viscount. Dundas was the Member of Parliament for Hastings in 1794, Rye in 1796 and Midlothian in 1801. He was als ...

* Alexander Gerard *

Alexander Gordon, Lord Rockville Alexander Gordon, Lord Rockville (1739 – 13 March 1792) was a Scottish judge. Life Rockville was the youngest son of William Gordon, 2nd Earl of Aberdeen, by his third wife Lady Anne, daughter of Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon. He be ...

* John Grieve (Lord Provost) * William "Spread Eagle" Grinly *

Francis Grose Francis Grose (born before 11 June 1731 – 12 May 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Pr ...

Henry Home, Lord Kames Henry Home, Lord Kames (169627 December 1782) was a Scottish writer, philosopher, advocate, judge, and agricultural improver. A central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, a founding member of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, and a ...

Sir Archibald Hope, 9th Baronet Sir Archibald Hope, 9th Baronet (1735 – 30 July 1794) was a Scottish aristocrat. Life Sir Archibald Hope was born in 1735, the only surviving son of Archibald Hope and Catherine Todd, eldest daughter of Hugh Todd. Sir Archibald's fath ...

* John Hope * James Hutton *

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

Vincenzo Lunardi Vincenzo Lunardi (11 January 1754 in Lucca – 1 August 1806 in Lisbon) was a pioneering Italian aeronaut, born in Lucca. Ascents in England Vincenzo Lunardi's family were of minor Tuscan nobility from Lucca, and his father had married late in li ...

* Sam McDonald *

William Nairne, Lord Dunsinane Sir William Nairne, Lord Dunsinane, 5th Baronet of Nairne (c. 1731–1811) was a Scottish advocate and judge, and the uncle of Katherine Ogilvie. The title of Lord Dunsinane was taken from Dunsinane Hill, a ruined fort near Collace, Perthshire, ...

* William Robertson *

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of Joh ...

* Adam Smith *

Peter Williamson (Indian Peter) Peter Williamson (1730 – 19 January 1799), also known as "Indian Peter", was a Scottish memoirist who was part-showman, part-entrepreneur and inventor. Born in a croft in Aberdeenshire, he was forcibly taken to North America at an early age ...

* Alexander ("Lang Sandy") Wood

References

External links

The complete two volumes of John Kay's Originals with searchable text and images
an
Volume 2

(''Deutsche Biographie'') 1742 births 1826 deaths People from Midlothian 18th-century engravers 19th-century engravers 19th-century Scottish male artists Scottish caricaturists Scottish engravers Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard {{printmaker-stub

Life

Some persons caricatured by Kay

References

Further reading

External links