Patrick Jon McMor(e)land

The Scottish-born artist Patrick John McMor(e)land appears to have been an itinerant artist like so many miniaturists of the later 18th century. He worked in his native Scotland, but also exhibited at the Society of Artists (1774-1775) and at the Royal Academy from 1776-1782, both in London. He also seems to have spent some time in Manchester. Again, like other artists of his generation, he supplemented his income by lecturing and training other artists.

This portrait of a young boy, wearing a bright peppermint-green coat and matching waistcoat, is reminiscent of the work of John Smart, who he may have known from the Society of Artists. The child’s face is sensitively depicted and the colouring of the clothing, surprisingly bright recalls many of Smart’s portraits of the mid to late 1770s. The portrait world of the 18th century was crowded with artists, particularly portrait miniaturists and McMoreland might have been forced to move around the country to gain commissions, although from the standard of his work and the extant examples which survive in private collections and museums (including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Ashmolean and the British Museum).