- Museum number
- M185
- Object
- Portrait miniature: Richard 'Beau' Nash by Nathaniel Hone, enamel on copper, 1750.
- Description
- Nash wears a full wig. His long cravat is worn over a yellow waistcoat. His mauve coat is frogged in gold lace. There is a brownish background.Nash was educated at Oxford. After a spell in the army, he went to Bath (1705) where he established the Assembly Rooms. He imposed a high standard of dress and of behaviour and was dubbed 'The King of Bath'. After 1745 his popularity waned and from 1758 he became a pensioner of the cityThis is one of Hone's finest enamels, technically most accomplished and with a great sense of character. The somewhat florid inscription may be rendered: Under your guidance Bath flourishes in wealth and charms. Aged 76. 1750. It would have been more appropriate at an earlier period, for Nash's reign at Bath was, in effect, over by 1750.There is a black turned wood frame.
- Materials
- Enamel
- Inscription
- Signed: with initials and dated 1750Inscribed on the reverse: Tuo sub Auspicio/Opidus et Deliciis/floret/ Bath/Act: LXXV11/1750.
- On display?
- Yes
Further description
- Simple name
- Miniature
- Subject
- Portrait
- Dimensions
- regular: 4.3cm (h) x 5.2cm (w)
Richard ‘Beau’ Nash (1674-1762)
Nathaniel Hone (1718-1784)
Enamel on copper, 1750
Signed and dated NH 1750
Richard Nash, Master of Ceremonies at the Assembly Rooms, helped transform Bath into England’s most popular spa. The Irish artist Nathaniel Hone’s miniature of the elderly Beau captures Nash’s character and famously flamboyant clothes.
Purchased 1930
M185
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