Description:
Mezzotint titled "George III, King of Great Britain / I. Zoffany Pinxit 1771 / Robert Sayre excudit / Richard Houston fecit 1772", which is by Richard Houston after a portrait of Zoffany in 1771, which hangs in the State Bedroom at Windsor Castle. Richard Houston (1721 or 1722–1775) was an Irish mezzotint engraver, whose career was mostly in London.Born in Dublin about 1721, he became a pupil of John Brooks, who was also the master of James McArdell and Charles Spooner. He came to London about 1747, and some of his early plates bear the address "near Drummond's at Charing Cross." In debt to Robert Sayer the print-seller, he was arrested and confined to the Fleet prison; according to Sayer this in order that he might know where to find the dissipated Houston. He was released in 1760, on the accession of George III. As a free agent he was commissioned by Carington Bowles. Houston died in Hetton Street, London, on 4 August 1775, aged 54.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1797.1

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.