Portrait of John Kay
Date
c.1845
Sitter
John Kay (1704 - 1779, British) , Inventor
Creator
George Edward Madeley (1798 - 1858, British) , Lithographer
After
Unknown, Painter
Object type
Image reference
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 195mm
width (print): 180mm
width (print): 180mm
Description
Half-length portrait of John Kay as a young man, shown wearing a tricorne hat, a dark jacket, waistcoat and a frilled cravat. Lithograph after a portrait by an unknown painter now in the Science Museum collection. As mentioned in the inscription, the original painting was owned by Thomas Sutcliffe, governor of the island of Juan Fernandez and great grandson of John Kay. Sutcliffe saved the painting during the 1835 earthquake on the island. He later left it to the Royal Polytechnic Institution, who upon their dissolution, passed it to Bennet Woodcroft. Woodcroft subsequently bequeathed the painting to the Science Museum.
Inscribed below: ‘Madeley, lith. 3, Wellington St. Strand.’ ‘This Portrait of JOHN KAY, of Bury,/(Inventor of the Fly shuttle &c,)/was saved, during the Earthquake that occurred on the Island of Juan Fernadez; and is dedicated to/The Right Hoble Sir Robt Peel Bart. M.P./by his obedient, humble servant,/Thos Sutcliffe’ ‘Proof./(Ent. Sta. Hall.)’
‘These inventions, like every other invention which has contributed to the extraordinary advance of the cotton manufacture, were/opposed by the workmen, who feared that they would lose their employment; and such was the persecution and danger to which/John Kay was exposed that he left his native country and went to reside in Paris./So hard is the fate of inventors, when they fail, no one pities them; when they succeed, persecution, envy, and jealousy, are their/reward. Their means are generally exhausted before their discoveries become productive. They plant a vineyard and either/starve or are driven from their inheritance before they can gather the fruits. This melancholy truth is exemplified at every stage/of the cotton manufacture, which is the creature of mechanical inventions.”/Baines’ History of the County Palatine of Lancaster.’
John Kay (1704-c.1779), British inventor, was not a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Inscribed below: ‘Madeley, lith. 3, Wellington St. Strand.’ ‘This Portrait of JOHN KAY, of Bury,/(Inventor of the Fly shuttle &c,)/was saved, during the Earthquake that occurred on the Island of Juan Fernadez; and is dedicated to/The Right Hoble Sir Robt Peel Bart. M.P./by his obedient, humble servant,/Thos Sutcliffe’ ‘Proof./(Ent. Sta. Hall.)’
‘These inventions, like every other invention which has contributed to the extraordinary advance of the cotton manufacture, were/opposed by the workmen, who feared that they would lose their employment; and such was the persecution and danger to which/John Kay was exposed that he left his native country and went to reside in Paris./So hard is the fate of inventors, when they fail, no one pities them; when they succeed, persecution, envy, and jealousy, are their/reward. Their means are generally exhausted before their discoveries become productive. They plant a vineyard and either/starve or are driven from their inheritance before they can gather the fruits. This melancholy truth is exemplified at every stage/of the cotton manufacture, which is the creature of mechanical inventions.”/Baines’ History of the County Palatine of Lancaster.’
John Kay (1704-c.1779), British inventor, was not a Fellow of the Royal Society.