# Richard Cosway

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English painter (1742–1821)

Richard Cosway Self-portrait in miniature, c. 1770 Born (1742-11-05)5 November 1742 Tiverton, England Died 4 July 1821(1821-07-04) (aged 78) London, England Education Thomas Hudson William Shipley Known for Painter of portrait miniatures Spouse Maria Cosway ​ (m. 1781)​

**Richard Cosway** [RA](/source/List_of_Royal_Academicians) (5 November 1742 – 4 July 1821) was a leading [English](/source/England) [portrait](/source/Portrait) painter of the [Georgian](/source/Georgian_era) and [Regency era](/source/Regency_era), noted for his [miniatures](/source/Portrait_miniature). He was a contemporary of [John Smart](/source/John_Smart), [George Engleheart](/source/George_Engleheart), William Wood, and [Richard Crosse](/source/Richard_Crosse_(painter)). He befriended fellow [Freemason](/source/Freemasonry) and [Swedenborgians](/source/Swedenborg) [William Blake](/source/William_Blake) and [Chevalier d'Éon](/source/Chevalier_d'%C3%89on). His wife was the Italian-born painter [Maria Cosway](/source/Maria_Cosway), a close friend of [Thomas Jefferson](/source/Thomas_Jefferson).

## Early years

Richard Cosway was born in [Tiverton](/source/Tiverton%2C_Devon), [Devon](/source/Devon), the son of a schoolmaster. He was initially educated at [Blundell's School](/source/Blundell's_School), where his father was [master](/source/Head_teacher), but at the age of twelve he was allowed to travel to [London](/source/London) to take lessons in painting. Soon after his arrival, in 1754, he won a prize from the [Society of Arts](/source/Royal_Society_of_Arts). He studied briefly with fellow Devonian [Thomas Hudson](/source/Thomas_Hudson_(painter)), then with [William Shipley](/source/William_Shipley), and by 1760 had established his own business.[1] He exhibited his first works at the age of 20 in 1762 and was soon in demand.

He was one of the first group of associate members of the Royal Academy, elected in August 1770, and was elected a full member the following March, on the casting vote of the academy's president, Sir [Joshua Reynolds](/source/Joshua_Reynolds).[2] He is included in [Johan Zoffany](/source/Johan_Zoffany)'s group portrait of the members of the academy (begun in 1771); a late addition to the composition, he was painted on an extra strip of canvas, attached to the right-hand side of the painting.[3]

## Career in art

He painted the future King [George IV](/source/George_IV) in 1780 and was appointed Painter to the [Prince of Wales](/source/Prince_of_Wales)[4] in 1785—the only time this title was ever awarded. His subjects included the Prince's first wife, [Maria Anne Fitzherbert](/source/Maria_Anne_Fitzherbert), and various English and [French](/source/Kingdom_of_France) aristocrats, including [Madame du Barry](/source/Madame_du_Barry), mistress of King [Louis XV](/source/Louis_XV).

Cosway's pupils included [Andrew Plimer](/source/Andrew_Plimer) (1763–1837).

From 1995 to 1996, the [National Portrait Gallery](/source/National_Portrait_Gallery%2C_London) in London held an exhibition entitled *Richard and Maria Cosway: Regency Artists of Taste and Fashion*, with 250 works on display.[5]

## Personal life

*A SMUGGLING MACHINE or a Convenient Cos(au)way for a Man in Miniature*. A 1782 etching satirising the relationship between Cosway and his wife. Published by [Hannah Humphrey](/source/Hannah_Humphrey).[6]

On 18 January 1781, Cosway married the Anglo-[Italian](/source/Italy) artist [Maria Hadfield](/source/Maria_Cosway). Maria was a composer, musician and authority on [girls' education](/source/Girls'_education) and was much admired by [Thomas Jefferson](/source/Thomas_Jefferson), who wrote letters to her decrying her marriage to another man and kept an engraving made from one of Cosway's paintings of Maria at [Monticello](/source/Monticello).[7]

The Cosways' marriage is thought to be an [arranged marriage](/source/Arranged_marriage) of convenience, and not only due to his being 20 years her senior.[5][7] Richard Cosway was an effeminate [Macaroni](/source/Macaroni_(fashion)) with "a mincing, affected air" dressed in the height of fashion: "His small plain person was to be seen in all the public places clothed in a mulberry silk coated embroidered with scarlet strawberries, with a sword and bag and small three-cornered hat perched on the top of his powdered toupée."[8] It was also said he was "well known as a libertine and commonly described as resembling a monkey."[9]

In 1784, the Cosways moved into [Schomberg House](/source/Schomberg_House), [Pall Mall](/source/Pall_Mall%2C_London), which became a fashionable salon for London society.[4] They employed the former slave [Ottobah Cugoano](/source/Ottobah_Cugoano) as a servant.[10] In 1791 they moved to a larger house in [Stratford Place](/source/Stratford_Place). In 1821, after selling most of the treasures he had accumulated, he went to reside in [Edgware Road](/source/Edgware_Road).[1]

In later life, Cosway also suffered from mental disorders and spent some time in various institutions. He died in [London](/source/London) in 1821 and was buried at [St Marylebone Parish Church](/source/St_Marylebone_Parish_Church). [Sir John Soane](/source/Sir_John_Soane) bought more than 30 objects put up for sale at auction after Cosway's death.[4]

Cosway's wife Maria survived him many years, and died in Italy in January 1838, in a school for girls which she had founded, and which she had attached to an important religious order devoted to the cause of female education, known as the *Dame Inglesi*. She had been created a baroness of the Empire on account of her devotion to female education by the emperor [Francis I of Austria](/source/Francis_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor) in 1834.[1]

## Examples of Cosway's work

		- Self-Portrait of Richard Cosway - [National Portrait Gallery, London](/source/National_Portrait_Gallery_(London))

		- Portrait of [Arthur Wellesley](/source/Arthur_Wellesley%2C_1st_Duke_of_Wellington), later Duke of Wellington, Dated 1808, by Richard Cosway, RA, 1742–1821, Watercolour on ivory V&A Museum no. P.6-1941 [Victoria and Albert Museum](/source/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum)

		- Portrait of an [Armenian](/source/Armenians)

		- John Braham with Harriet Abrams and her two daughters, [Harriett Abrams](/source/Harriett_Abrams) and [Theodosia Abrams](/source/Theodosia_Abrams)

		- Self-Portrait in Elizabethan Costume, circa 1790

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWilliamson1911_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWilliamson1911_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWilliamson1911_1-2) [Williamson 1911](#CITEREFWilliamson1911).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [John Evan Hodgson](/source/John_Evan_Hodgson) and [Frederick Alexis Eaton](/source/Frederick_Alexis_Eaton), *The Royal Academy and its Members 1768-1830.* London: John Murray, 1905; pg. 113.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Johan Zoffany: Finding the founders"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121108210831/http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ra-magazine/spring-2012/johan-zoffany-finding-the-founders%2C342%2CRAMA.html). RA Magazine. Archived from [the original](http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ra-magazine/spring-2012/johan-zoffany-finding-the-founders,342,RAMA.html) on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-napoleon_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-napoleon_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-napoleon_4-2) ["How England first saw Bonaparte: a painting by Francesco Cossia commissioned by Maria Cosway in 1797 was the first true portrait of Napoleon to be seen in England. It was acquired by Sir John Soane, who, as Xavier F. Salomon and Christopher Woodward explain, juxtaposed it with a miniature by Isabey in a graphic comparison of the youthful hero with the tyrannical dicatator"](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAL/is_524_162/ai_n15930846/pg_1). Apollo. Retrieved 1 August 2007. [*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-antiques_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-antiques_5-1) ["An artistic alliance - Richard and Maria Cosway - English artists"](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_n6_v148/ai_17776997). Magazine Antiques. December 1995. Retrieved 1 August 2007. [*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["A smuggling machine or a convenient Cos(au)way for a man in miniature"](https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1457164&partId=1).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-monticello_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-monticello_7-1) DeMauri, Stephen (December 2003). ["Thomas Jefferson's Engraving of Maria Cosway"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070713233417/http://www.monticello.org/highlights/cosway.html). Monticello Foundation. Archived from [the original](http://www.monticello.org/highlights/cosway.html) on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** The Shilling Magazine, quoted in Weekly Dispatch (London), 18 March 1866, p38. [\[1\]](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003358/18660318/213/0038)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-amheritage_9-0)** ["JEFFERSON'S PARIS"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070929121028/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1995/2/1995_2_108.shtml). American Heritage Archived at Internet Archive. Archived from [the original](http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1995/2/1995_2_108.shtml) on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Brain, Jessica (28 July 2021). ["The Sons of Africa"](https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Sons-Of-Africa/). *Historic UK*. Retrieved 21 February 2025.

## Further reading

- Gerald Barnett, *Richard and Maria Cosway: A Biography.* Tiverton, Devon, UK: Westcountry Books, 1995.

- Philippe Bordes, "Richard and Maria Cosway, Edinburgh," *Burlington Magazine,* vol. 137, no. 1111 (Oct. 1995), pp. 700–702. [In JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/886720).

- [Daphne Foskett](/source/Daphne_Foskett), *Miniatures: Dictionary and Guide.* London: Antique Collectors' Club, 1987.

- Duncan MacMillan, "The Cosways," *RSA Journal,* vol. 143, no. 5464 (Nov. 1995), pp. 65–66. [In JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41376910).

- "Richard Cosway, 'The Macaroni Miniature Painter,'" *The Art Amateur,* vol. 8, no. 2 (Jan. 1883), pg. 38. [In JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/25627814).

- [Williamson, George Charles](/source/G._C._Williamson) (1911). ["Cosway, Richard"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Cosway,_Richard). In [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm) (ed.). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 248.

- Fagan, Louis Alexander (1887). ["Cosway, Richard"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Cosway,_Richard). In [Stephen, Leslie](/source/Leslie_Stephen) (ed.). *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 12. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co).

- Lloyd, Stephen. "Cosway, Richard (bap. 1742, d. 1821)". *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ref:odnb/6383](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F6383). (Subscription, [Wikipedia Library](https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/88/) access or [UK public library membership](https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Richard Cosway](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Richard_Cosway).

- [24 artworks by or after Richard Cosway](https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/actor:cosway-richard-17421821) at the [Art UK](/source/Art_UK) site

- [Victoria and Albert Museum miniatures gallery](https://web.archive.org/web/20110122003708/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/paintings/miniatures/artists/cosway/index.html)

- [Frits Lugt, Les marques de collections de dessins & d'estampes, 1921 and its Supplement 1956, L.628 and L.629, online edition](http://www.marquesdecollections.fr/detail.cfm/marque/6331)

- [A catalogue of the very curious, extensive, and valuable library of Richard Cosway, Esq. R.A](http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:5110417), digital facsimile from [Houghton Library](/source/Houghton_Library), Harvard University.

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Czech Republic Spain Portugal Netherlands Poland Israel Artists ULAN RKD Artists KulturNav Victoria Scientific illustrators Auckland National Gallery of Canada FID People Trove Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef SNAC RISM

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