Portrait of John Dollond
Date
c.1760s
Sitter
John Dollond (1706 - 1761, British) , Instrument maker
Creator
John Raphael Smith (1751 - 1812, British) , Engraver
After
Benjamin Wilson (1721 - 1788, British) , Artist
Object type
Image reference
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 275mm
width (print): 340mm
width (print): 340mm
Subject
Description
Half-length portrait of John Dollond, seated at a table, wearing a brown coat, white shirt and cravat. On the table is a volume with ‘Opticks’ [denoting Sir Isaac Newton’s work] written on the top edge, and a small brass-boxed lens resting on top of it. Dollond holds a similar, smaller lens in his left hand.
Inscribed: ‘B. Wilson pinx.t J. R. Smith Sculp.t/ John Dollond, F. R. S./ Who in the Year 1758 invented the ACHROMATIC TELESCOPE, by discovering the difference in the dispersion of the Colours of Light, when the mean rays are equally refracted by the different mediums: An important addition to the SCIENCE OF OPTICKS, which had been despaired of by the greatest Philosophers in Europe/ He died 30th November in the 55th Year of his Age.’
John Dollond (1706-1761), British optician, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1761.
Inscribed: ‘B. Wilson pinx.t J. R. Smith Sculp.t/ John Dollond, F. R. S./ Who in the Year 1758 invented the ACHROMATIC TELESCOPE, by discovering the difference in the dispersion of the Colours of Light, when the mean rays are equally refracted by the different mediums: An important addition to the SCIENCE OF OPTICKS, which had been despaired of by the greatest Philosophers in Europe/ He died 30th November in the 55th Year of his Age.’
John Dollond (1706-1761), British optician, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1761.
Associated place