JOHN TAYLOR

Taylor produced portraits in a variety of media, including pencil, as in the present work. He was taught by Francis Hayman (1708-1776) and was rather peripatetic in his work, travelling between Oxford, Manchester, and Bristol. Here he has drawn fellow artist Charles Nicholas Cochin, usually known as Cochin the Younger. He was employed by Louis XV to engrave major events occurring at the court, including births, marriages, and deaths. Until the King’s own death in 1774, Cochin enjoyed success within the court and was granted a pension and lodgings in the Louvre.

Only dying at the age of 99, Taylor was affectionately known as ‘old Taylor ’, and took likenesses of a range of sitters, including many associated with the University of Oxford. There is no evidence of Cochin having travelled to any of the places in which Taylor worked, and it is therefore likely that this portrait was drawn from a print or other known portrait.