Francis Town of Bond Street (1738-1826) and his Family, with Further Notes on Early Anglo-Jewish Artists

<plain_text><page sequence="1">Francis Town of Bond Street (1738-1826) and his family1 With Further Notes on Early Anglo-Jewish Artists By Alfred Rubens, F.S.A., F.R.Hist.S. IN January 1809 the Battle of Corunna was fought and the British army withdrew from the Peninsula. This serious defeat aroused little interest at home where the public was eagerly following the sensational details of the Duke of York's private life with Mrs. Clarke. George The Third's second son, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, had been charged with corruption in connection with army promotions and an examination was taking place before the House of Commons. The evidence was supplied by his former mistress, Mary Ann Clarke, with whom he had parted on bad terms and showed that she had received large sums of money from army officers in return for promises of promotion but it was clear that the Duke was unaware of these transactions and he was exonerated by a majority of the House. Nevertheless the scandal was so great that he was obliged to resign his army appointment. The examina? tion lasted no less than seven weeks and the printed report takes up more than 600 pages.2 According to The Annual Register for 1809 it "interested the public more deeply than any question has done since that concerning the succession to the Crown and the limitation of the regal power".3 The affair must also have caused quite a stir among the little Anglo-Jewish com? munity for one of the officers mentioned was of Jewish birth and one of the principal witnesses was a Jewish artist. The officer was David Ximenes, major in the 62nd Regt., who in a letter to the Committee stated that he had never been in touch with Mrs. Clarke, that he had served ten years in the army before receiving his majority and that he was in America in 1804 when he was promoted. On the strength of this communication he was dismissed from the proceedings although both he and his brother, Captain Moris Ximenes, were anxious to give evidence.4 The artist was a certain Benjamin Town. His evidence was important because he testified that he had frequently called at Mrs. Clarke's house in Gloucester Place in order to give her lessons in painting on velvet and that she had shown him how she was able to forge the Duke's signature. Mrs. Clarke, an attractive woman who thoroughly enjoyed the publicity she received, conducted herself throughout the proceedings with remarkable composure in spite of being caught out telling deliberate lies no less than 28 times. In anticipation of Town's evidence she made a vicious attack on him when the case was opened and stated that she had introduced him to the Duke in order to arrange a loan from Jew King.5 I will not weary you with the lengthy evidence by 1 Paper read before The Jewish Historical Society of England on 17th June, 1953. References to Hart relate to a collection of letters written between 1837 and 1840 by S. A. Hart, r.a. to Sir Augustus and Lady Calcott in the author's possession. They include some notes he prepared on Jewish artists. 2 Investigation of the Charges brought against H.R.H. The Duke of York. Stratford's Edn. 1809. 3 A good account of the examination will be found in Roger Fulford's Royal Dukes 1933, 4 Investigation pp. 246, 257, 268, 400 and 401. * Ibid- pp. 150-1. 89</page><page sequence="2">90 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY Town on the main issue of Mrs. Clarke's forgery but will quote some of the more interest? ing passages.1 Q. Where do you live ? A. In Bond Street. Q. In what business are you ? A. An artist. Q. In what line ? A. A velvet painter.,. Q. What branch of painting do you profess to teach ? A. Flowers, landscape, figures and fruit. Q. In your instructions to your pupils, do you ever teach them to draw letters in any particular way, with flourishes and flowers or any thing of that kind ? A. Yes, I do,. Q. Were you much in the confidence of Mrs. Clarke ? A. No. Q. To whom did you first communicate this fact of having heard Mrs. Clarke make use of these expressions ? A. Lady Haggerstone. Q. At what time ? A. She was taking a lesson. Q. Had anybody applied to you to ask whether you could give this information. A. It was in the course of conversation; she was observing one thing and the other and she brought up the Duke's affair . . . and I suppose Lady Haggerstone had mentioned it somewhere and therefore I was called up to give evidence. Q. How long is it since you gave any lesson to Mrs. Clarke the last time ? A. I cannot say without reference to my book. Q. Did you and she part on good terms ? A. She is in my debt. Q. Was there ever any quarrel or animosity between you on any subject ? A. None whatever. Q. Has she paid you all that is due to you ? A. No. Q. Had you any conversation with Mrs. Clarke about a loan of money ? A. Yes. Q. State the substance of that conversation to the Committee. A. She said the Duke wished a sum of money; she asked me to enquire of Mr. Abraham Goldsmid if he would; he said he was no moneylender. Q. Did you ever say that a person of the name of Jew King was to lend him money ? A. She requested of me to go to Jew King. The treatment of the witnesses in the case was harsh even for those days and was referred to in the closing speeches. Many of them were accused of criminal practices and Town's cross-examination which I quote in full must be judged accordingly.2 1 Ibid. pp. 171-175. 2 Ibid. pp. 268-271,</page><page sequence="3">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 91 Mr. C. Adams. Q. State to the Committee your name ? A. Benjamin Town. Q. I presume, then, you are of the Jewish persuasion ? A. I am. Q. You have stated on a former occasion, that in your transactions with Mrs. Clarke, she told you she could forge the Duke of York's name; are you aware that that word is applicable only to fraudulent transactions ? A. That I cannot say. Q. Did you use it in that sense ? A. No, I did not. Q. Did you, then, when you mentioned the word forge, only mean the word imitate ? A. Those were her words, that she could forge the Duke's name, and she has done it, and she shewed it me immediately on a piece of paper. Q. Did you understand that word forge to mean imitate ? A. Those were the words that she expressed. Q. Had you, before you gave your evidence here on a former occasion, read in the newspaper that part of Mrs. Clarke's evidence, wherein she spoke of you as a Jew, and said, perhaps you might have stolen a letter or two from her ? A. I never saw the paper, nor never heard of it. Q. Did you say that Mrs. Clarke had forged the Duke's hand-writing? A. She said she could, and she has done it; that she has forged the Duke's name, and she shewed it me on a piece of paper. Q. What is your name ? A. Benjamin Town. Lord Folkestone. Q. How long have you had that name ? A. My father's name is Town. 2- Does your father go by the name of Town ? A. Yes. Q. How long has he gone by the name of Town ? A. That I do not know. Q. Have you never known him by any other ? A. No. Q. Recollect yourself ? A. No, I have not. Q. What is your father ? A. He is a Jew. Q. What is his trade ? A. He is an artist, he teaches velvet-painting. Q. How long has he taught velvet-painting ? A. Many years. Q. Do you remember your father carrying on any other trade but that of velvet-painting? A. That I do not know, he might; ladies have now and then, I suppose, asked him to recommend some jewellery to them, and I think he has sent different jewelleries to the ladies. Q. Did you ever know him go by the name of Lyons ? A, No, never. Q. I understood you to say, that Mrs. Clarke told you she could forge the Duke of York's hand, and, that she actually forged his hand in your presence ? A. She said that she could, and she has done it, and she shewed it me on a piece of paper, and I could not tell the difference between the two. Q. How could you tell it was the Duke of York's handwriting. A. I did not know only as she told me.</page><page sequence="4">92 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY Sir T. Turton. Q. What do you mean by forging ? A. I do not know; those were her words ; I only tell you what she told me. Mr. Wardle. Q. Did you appear as a witness at the Sessions at Clerkenwell ? A. Yes, I did; it is a considerable time back. Q. Do you know Mr. Alley, a barrister, and recollect any such barrister at those sessions ? A. Yes ; he was, I believe, Mr. Smith's counsel. Q. State whether any thing particular happened at that sessions with regard to your evidence ? A. I do not recollect. Q. Endeavour to recollect whether Mr. Alley in that Court, used any strong expressions to you ? A. I do not recollect any; he said that I was a Jew, and that all the Jews ought to be punished, or something of that kind; he made use of some language which I cannot recollect. Q. Is any indictment now hanging over your head for perjury ? A. No. Q. Do you know of any proceedings ? A. I know there is a proceeding, but I do not know upon what grounds; it is not against me; it is not belonging to me. Q. Are you sure that you are in no way connected with that proceeding ? A. I do not know whether it is my sister or brother; I cannot tell which. Q. Are you sure you are no way implicated in or connected with the proceeding ? A. No, I am not. Q. What is the proceeding, and against whom ? A. It is so long since, I cannot tell; there have been so many, and Mr. Smith has lost them all, that I cannot recollect what he is doing, or what he intends doing. The evidence given by Town contains practically all the information known about him but we are fortunate to have in the printed report his portrait engraved by Hopwood after Rowlandson (Plate 2) and he appears again in a caricature by Isaac Cruikshank entitled How to Stuff An Accuser.1 Whether the introduction of Jew King to the Duke of York was effected is not disclosed but it is highly probable that he was among the numerous moneylenders to whom the Duke had recourse.2 The Duke was the patron of Jacob de Castro, the Jewish comedian, who dedicated his Memoirs to him in 1824 and reference to his Jewish connections is made in a little known pamphlet by a friend of Mrs. Clarke, Miss Elizabeth Taylor, entitled Authentic Memoirs of Mrs. Clarke (London 1809). It concludes with "Frederick the Great and the Fair Mary Anne. An historical ballad" the last lines of which run as follows : 1 Colonel G. L. Wardle, m.p. for Okehampton, who took a leading part in the campaign against the Duke of York, is seen treating a bust of George III with some disrespect. Mrs. Clarke is feeding him with "Forced Meat Balls". Behind her is a group of her creditors of whom the most prominent is Benjamin Town. He holds a portfolio inscribed "B.To? Painter on Velvet No. 27 Bond St." and a paper which reads "Mrs. Clarke to B. T. Lesson on Velvet". He is saying "Den we shall get de Monish" (B.M. 11237). 2 A much more favourable account of King than is usually found in contemporary records appears in John Taylor's Records of my Life (Vol. 2 pp. 341 seq.) According to Taylor, King was an agent for moneylenders and did not advance money on his own account.</page><page sequence="5">FRANCIS T 1. Francis Town from a lithograph in the British Museum (See p. 95)</page><page sequence="6">8 &gt; .5 I 2 W ?s * .S 3</page><page sequence="7">o H &lt;-&gt; ? S ? g * ~ 3 S? PS</page><page sequence="8">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1837-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 93 "If tradition be true, we are told that he goes To attend at the Jewish Passover And hopes that some Messiah* yet under rose Will redeem him from trouble and end all his woes Then restor'd to command he will punish his foes And again be a prodigal lover. * perhaps his locum tenens, Sir David". Town was probably glad to get away from London after his trying experience in the witness box and the following year he is to be found at Norwich as we see from this announcement which appeared in the Norfolk Chronicle for 11th August, 1810 : "Exhibition of Velvet Painting, Mr. Town Original Velvet Painter and Artist to the Royal Family from 29 New Bond Street, London, Begs leave to acquaint the Nobility and Gentry that at his apartments No. 7, Briggs Lane, St. Stephens, Norwich, may be seen from ten to six his admired collection of paintings designed in figures, flowers, fruit, landscapes and various other ornamental groups. Ladies taught in four lessons who are totally unac? quainted with drawing or painting. Ladies disposed to honour him with their attention are most respectfully requested to make early application, Mr. Town having but a short time to remain in Norfolk"1 I have assumed that this notice refers to Benjamin Town and not to his father who would then have been 72 years of age. Benjamin's first appearance in the London Directories is in 1814 : 'Benjamin Town, Velvet Painter, 29 New Bond St.' He was then occupying rooms over a bookseller and stationer. In 1820 he moved to No. 99 and in 1822 and 1823 we find him at No. 119 in the same street. There is in the Jewish Museum a letter dated 24th June, 1816 from Alexander Sch?mberg of Bath to the Chief Rabbi, Solomon Hirschel, in which the writer supplies a list of London residents as references; among them is "Mr. Town, velvet painter, Old Bond Street". The only other scrap of information about Benjamin Town comes from Dr. Cecil Roth, who informs me that his name is included in the list of subscribers to the Jews' Hospital, Mile End in 1808 as a contributor for two guineas. He disappeared from the London Directories after 1823 and nothing more is heard of him. According to Hart, who calls him a landscape painter, he became insane towards the end of his life and died about 1821 but I think it was probably in 1824 when his father made a new will. He himself left no will. The remainder of the family consisted of the father, Francis Town, two brothers, Charles and Edward and a sister, Lydia. Attention was first called to them by the authority on British sporting artists, the late Walter Shaw Sparrow, in an article in The Connoisseur2 entitled Charles Town of London (1781-1854) and The Town Painters on Velvet. Mr. Sparrow became interested in the family because of the confusion which had previously existed between Benjamin's brother, Charles Town of London and Charles Towne of Liverpool, the animal painter, and at the same time he discovered Benjamin's father, Francis Town, velvet painter, of Bond Street who had equally been confused with Francis Towne of Exeter, the eminent landscape artist. In the course of this paper I shall refer to Benjamin's father and brother as Francis 1 The W. T. Whitley Papers in the B.M. Print Room. 2 Vol. 88, 1931, pp. 80 seq.</page><page sequence="9">94 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY and Charles Town and to their namesakes as Francis Towne of Exeter and Charles Towne of Liverpool, Our first introduction to the Town family is through Harriette Wilson1 who relates the following anecdote : "A Jew named Town ... a painter, who keeps a shop in Bond Street, went down to Newcastle2 about five years ago, to sketch views in that country. One morning he observed a lad driving his cattle along a field, and whose countenance particularly struck him. His was a true Roman head. The boy was about twelve years of age. The Jew called to him and asked him if he would stand still while he took his picture. The youth consented with much good nature; but, after having stood stock still for a quarter of an hour, he declared that he could not bear it any longer. Mr. Town asked him many questions, and being much surprised with the boy's sensible replies, inquired if he would like to go up to London with him ? The lad hesitated. " 'You will not trust yourself with me then ?' said the Jew. 'I would go anywhere with you, Sir ; but my poor father and mother are so old*. The Jew requested to be made known to them, and was conducted to a wretched hovel, where the ancient pair resided. They immediately consented to place their child under the Jew protector, and, the next morning, the Israelite and his young protege were on their road to London. On their arrival the Jew clothed the boy handsomely, and instructed him in the first rudiments of his art. Before the child had received a dozen lessons, Mr. Town foretold that he would excel as a painter ; he therefore bound him apprentice for seven years, to himself, and stipulated to allow him ten shillings a week pocket money for the first two years, and then to go on doubling that sum every second year, to the end of his apprenticeship. The progress the youth made astonished the Jew. The child excelled most particularly in landscape-painting, Bred in the country, he had attentively observed the effect of lightning on trees and cattle. His gratitude to his kind benefactor knew no bounds, and his industry was indefatigable. Mr. Town, fearing lest, from inexperience, the poor lad might be led astray, or fall into bad company, instead of sending him to school, engaged masters in the house, to instruct him in reading and writing. His progress in these was almost equal to that he had made in drawing. He became the delight and comfort of Mr. Town's aged father, on whom he was never tired of attending; he would read to him, for hours together and be grateful for the task. "One day the Jew sent his protege into the country, to take a sketch of some willow trees, and was surprised to see him return in tears. 'What is the matter, my poor fellow ?' said the Jew. 'That brook, near which I have been sitting to sketch these trees, Sir, reminded me so much of one near my poor mother's hut,' answered the lad. 'You shall go down to New? castle, and pay a visit to your parents,' said the benevolent Jew, 'and it should not cost you one shilling, so prepare yourself to depart, by the coach, next week.' The boy shed tears of gratitude. "On the day previous to his departure for Newcastle, he said he wished to ask a favour of his kind master's only sister; but feared it might be deemed impertinent. Being encouraged to proceed : 'Why, Sir,' said the lad, 'your great goodness has left me nothing to desire, since the first instant I entered your house ; therefore, out of the allowance of pocket-money you have made me, I have saved up eleven pounds, which I hope your sister will condescend to lay out for me, in blankets and various other articles of comfort, which I am desirous of carrying down to my poor old parents.' The Jew gladly promised to prevail on his sister to do whatever he wished, and moreover assured the affectionate lad, that he should be allowed to make a yearly visit to his parents, as long as they lived, and always at his expense. 'Tell your parents that, though a Jew myself, I have not presumed to interfere with your former mode of worship; but, on the contrary, have made you regularly attend the service of the Church of England, ever since you left them'." 1 Memoirs, 1929 ed. p. 188. 2 This is probably a mistake for Norwich,</page><page sequence="10">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 95 The benevolent Jew, the subject of this anecdote, is undoubtedly Charles Town who was the real artist of the family and at the time of which Harriette Wilson was writing, i.e. 1805-6, was residing at 159 New Bond Street. It is he, therefore, who appears in the caricature "Harriette and The Jew". Unfortunately, the only recorded copy of this print which was in the Mocatta Library was destroyed during the war. Francis Town died on 11th November, 1826 aged 88 as recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine 1826 (ii. 474) : "Nov. 11th. At the house of his son, New Bond Street, aged 88, Mr. F. Town, artist". On his death his family published his portrait (Plate 1) on which he is described as "Inventor of the Art of Painting on Velvert" (sic). It is a striking lithograph by the French artist, Casimir Carbonier, who was then working in this country and it was printed by the famous lithographic printer, Godefroi Engelmann of Paris.1 Its rarity?the copy in the British Museum is the only one known?suggests that the issue was limited to members of the family. Francis Town left a will dated 5th April, 18242 in which he describes himself as an artist of New Bond Street. He appointed his son Charles, sole executor and bequeathed to him all his property. His signature was witnessed by W. Jenkins, Lewis Levy and John Clemitt. The personal property which his son inherited amounted to ?1,000. Charles Town was born in 1781. He was an artist of some talent and exhibited on several occasions at the Royal Academy and the British Institute. Mr. Sparrow, in attempting to distinguish him from Towne of Liverpool, added somewhat to the con? fusion by relying on the different spelling of the name in consecutive R.A. catalogues to arrive at the conclusion that the two Towns were living at the same address in 1804. It is quite true that the London family usually wrote their name without a final E but it would be very dangerous to rely on this spelling particularly in exhibition catalogues which were frequently inaccurate and while the two artists may have been acquainted with one another they cannot have been related. The one who is designated as "of Liverpool" was baptised at Wigan in 1763 and Mr. Sparrow went to great pains to trace his ancestry and his descendants, none of whom has any connection with the London family. What has baffled the art historians is that the two artists working at the same time frequently used the same subjects and painted in a similar style. Towne of Liverpool was, I believe, the only one to do racing scenes but they both specialised in animals, particularly horses, with landscape backgrounds, although Hart calls Town of London a landscape painter. In comparing the two Mr. Sparrow says : "Charles Town of London though notably different in his animals and in his human figures has at times a certain kinship of style in his skies and distances and in his choice of subjects.' As recently as 1952 Col. M. H. Grant in his Dictionary of British Landscape Painters wrote : "Both worked at similar subjects in a somewhat similar manner; both had identical addresses in London and finally both frequently signed with the initials C.T. That they are separate individuals, however, is undoubted though their non-relationship as alleged by Sparrow is almost beyond belief. Chas. Town (1781-1854) of London . . . painted much the same subjects as he of Liverpool and in much the same manner but with a looser broader touch which distinguishes him from the other whose minute handling bordered always on miniature even in his largest works. His pictures indeed bear a distinct 'Norwich' aspect, an affinity suggested also by his Boat Builders, Norwich 1 There was a London branch of the business at 92 Dean Street, Soho, trading under the name of Engelmann, Graf, Coindet &amp; Co. 2 Swabey 607.</page><page sequence="11">96 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY (B.I. 1811) and by his chief painting the Cattle Fair of the Williamson Gallery, Birkenhead (35ins. x 44ins.) (1826) of which the scene is undoubtedly the market-place of Norwich whilst the handling is strongly reminiscent of that of David Hodgson of that city but carried to a higher power. The works of this Town are more rare than those of him of Liverpool and even when found are usually attributed to his namesake". The curator of the Williamson Gallery has kindly supplied me with a photograph of Chas. Town's Cattle Fair (Plate 4). Mr. Sparrow describes it as "an ambitious picture in its aims ; certainly with defects but bold in character, quite well observed, with weight of style variously active everywhere ... (it) shows mixed influences. The sky ... has just a little of Towne of Liverpool while all the animate life, both animal and human, is completely at variance with the miniaturist qualities?in detail, of surface, and in caressing touch?that Towne of Liverpool loved increasingly. Indeed Town of London shows that he took some hints from Rowlandson, from Cristall also, and that he liked the sketches made for his own enjoyment by Phillip Reinagle, R.A. ... In some other pictures that I have seen by him, there are mingled affinities in which Towne of Liverpool is indicated just a little here and there but I have not yet seen any dated work by him later than 1826". I have not discovered how this picture, Cattle Fair, reached Birkenhead but the original donor must have thought that the artist was connected with the near-by city of Liverpool and it was due to the same mistake that another picture by Town of London described by Sparrow found its way into the possession of Lady Danson who had a large collection of pictures by Towne of Liverpool from whom her family was descended. The first time Charles Town exhibited at the Royal Academy was in 1806 when he sent in Interior of Westminster Abbey. His address is not stated but the following year when he exhibited Sketch on the Thames it is given as 27 New Bond Street. He did not exhibit in 1808 but in the three succeeding years he had a picture at the British Institute, the subjects being Evening; Roadway, Evening and Boat Builders, Norwich. (It will be noted that he was working at Norwich at about the same time that his brother was exhibiting his paintings on velvet in that city). In 1812 he returned to the R.A. with Fish Market the last picture he exhibited. Between 1809 and 1812, as we see from the catalogues, he was at 29 New Bond Street, with his brother Benjamin and probably the rest of the family and he was still living there in 1817 when he first appeared in the London Directories. He had then joined the family craft and is de? scribed as "Velvet Painter". It may have been about this time that his sister, Lydia, got married. The bridegroom, Emanuel Emanuel, some 17 years her junior, lived close by in Marylebone Lane and was the son of Simon Emanuel (d. 1840. Will: 1841.25) one of the heads of the Maiden Lane Synagogue to which the Town family was probably also attached. It was not long before Charles decided to join up in business with his sister and brother-in-law and in the London Directories for 1826/7 we find them established at 103 New Bond Street as "Town and Emanuel, Repository of Arts". The firm continued to appear in the Directories under the same address until 1849 described variously as "curiosity dealers" (1830) "dealers and importers of antique furniture, curiosities and pictures" (1835) "antique furniture dealers" (1849) and "importers of and dealers in buhl and carved furniture" (1849).1 Emanuel was the business partner 1 A label attached to a writing table sold at Sotheby's in June 1948 read as follows : "Town and Emanuel, Manufacturers of Buhl, Marquetrie, Resner and Carved Furniture, Tripods Screens etc., of the finest and most superb designs of the times of Louis XIV. Splendid Cabinets and Tables inlaid with fine Sevre and Dresden China",</page><page sequence="12">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 97 in the firm; the Directories show that Charles continued to practise as an artist and Lydia, under the name of Mrs. Emanuel Town, as a velvet painter. Their building which is on the west side between Brook Street and Blenheim Street still stands and is now occupied as motor showrooms. When I examined it in Tallis' London Street Views published in 1839 I was surprised to find that their trade sign read : "Town and Emanuel. By Appointment to Her Majesty and Importers of Antique Furniture". The original warrant which I have inspected at the Lord Chamberlain's Office is dated 26th February, 1838 and appoints Charles Town and Emanuel Emanuel "manufacturers of Buhl Ormulu and Bronze in ordinary". As is the case with most of the warrants granted to Jews at that time, there is a note that the oath was taken on the Old Testament. With a building in Bond Street and a royal appointment the firm must have been of considerable importance and we are fortunate to have a contemporary description of one of the partners. It appears in an extra-illustrated set of R.A. Catalogues (1807, Vol. 6.) in the B.M. Print Room which formerly belonged to J. H. Anderdon (1790-1879). Anderdon, a picture collector, had made an early effort to distinguish the two Town's and left the following note which he said was based on information he had received from a Royal Academician : "Charles Towne. An artist of the Jewish nation. Was the son of a painter on velvet his sister being also a successful practitioner in the same style of art, her flowers drawn on velvet being so beautiful that she was engaged as instructress to many of the aristocracy. This lady married one of the family of Emanuel eminent as dealers in china, enamels and other curiosities; and has been seen by my informant in the 'Magasin' surrounded by countless stores of most choice bijouterie and 'Rococo' with pieces of ornamental furniture including samples of her own handicraft, being herself also a most comely person". According to the Whitley papers it appears that Anderdon's informant was S. A. Hart who also contributed the information that Lydia brought her husband a fortune and that she numbered Queen Caroline and Princess Charlotte among her pupils. In 1849 Emanuel Emanuel died at 103 New Bond Street at the age of 54 and the business was closed down. In his will (1849.341) dated 19th February, 1848 where he is curiously described as "manufacturer of antique furniture" he directs that he is to be buried at such place as "my dear wife shall think most convenient and proper" and he leaves her all his property. His signature is witnessed by George Walford, solicitor, 8 Grafton Street, Bond Street and Emma Chad, a servant. The sale of the stock of Messrs. Town and Emanuel which took place at Christie's in April and May 1849 occupied twelve days and realised ?11,444.1 On her husband's death from which she benefited by ?4,000 in personal property, Lydia took her brother, Charles, to live with her at 19 Southampton Place, one of the 1 Catalogue of% the Magnificent and Extensive Stock of Messrs. Town and Emanuel being perhaps the Most Rich and Varied Assemblage of Works of Taste and Decoration ever brought together. And now to be sold in consequence of the indisposition of Mr. Emanuel rendering it necessary that this business which he has carried on for many years with so high a reputation should be brought to a close. It comprises Ancient and Modern Decorative Furniture, fine Italian Sculpture, Carvings, Pictures, Cinque-Cento Bijouterie, fine bronzes, Candelabra and clocks, Faenza Ware, Limosine and other enamels, Dresden, Sevres and Oriental China; and superb Gold and other snuff boxes?all these objects have been selected with the well-known judgement and taste of this house, from different sources on the Continent, as well as from Fonthill, Wanstead, Earlestoke, Grimsthorpe Castle, Strawberry Hill, Stowe and every other celebrated Collection which has been dispersed. Which will be sold by auction by Messrs. Christie and Manson at their Great Room, 8 King Street, St. James Square on Thursday, April 19th, 1849 and 7 following days. The second part of the sale took place on 14th May, 1849 and the three following days.</page><page sequence="13">98 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY terraces on the north side of what was then New Road (now Euston Road) between Euston Square and Hampstead Road. Here we find them at the time of the 1851 Census living in some comfort with 3 servants. Lydia is described as the head of the household and aged 71; Charles as unmarried and aged 66; both gave London as their place of birth. Three years later they were at 2 Blenheim Place, St. Marylebone and it was here that Charles died on 24th April, 1854. In the death certificate his age is given as 73 which does not tally with the census return. By his will dated 17th May, 1850 (1854; 410) he left a legacy of ?150 to his "dear brother Captain Edward Town" and the remainder of his estate to his "dear sister Lydia Emanuel". The value of his personal property was under ?1,000. Lydia died at 2 Carlton Hill East, St. Marylebone on 23rd January, 1861. Her age was given as 83 which again does not tally with the census return.1 Her personal property amounted to under ?5,000 and by her will dated 17th November, 1860 (1861 ; 83) she directed that her body should be interred "in the same manner as the body of my late dear husband". She appointed as executors her "dear brother", Edward Town and her friend, Robert Shergold Browning2 of 6 Grosvenor Place, Camberwell, to whom she left a legacy of ?200. The remainder of her estate went to her brother but in the event of him predeceasing her she appointed Jonah Nathan of 13 Craven Hill as executor in his place and left ?200 to Miriam, wife of Jonah Nathan; ?100 to his son Nathaniel Nathan; ?100 to his sister, Clare Nathan ; ?300 to Mr. Frank Hicks of 7 Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square; ?300 to Miss Isabella Caldecott "now residing with me"; ?100 to Israel Isaac of Norfolk Road, St. John's Wood, and ?200 with the residue of the estate to Jonah Nathan. I now come to the last and youngest of Francis Town's children. Edward Town started his career as an artist in 1806 at the age of 16 when his picture, Sketch from Nature, was hung at the Royal Academy. It was in the same year that his brother, Charles, had his first picture accepted. In the three following years he exhibited : A Study (1807); Sketch from Nature (1808); and A Study from Nature near Windsor (1808). Between 1807 and 1809 his address was 27 New Bond Street but in 1806 he was at No. 159 and the family's removal evidently arose out of the proceedings at Clerkenwell Sessions mentioned in Benjamin Town's evidence. Colonel Le Hardy, the archivist at the Middlesex Guildhall, was good enough to make a search and I have seen the original indictments. Edward and Lydia were charged with assaulting Daniel Smith and causing a riot on 20th February, 1807 and there was a cross charge of a similar nature by Lydia. As one of Smith's recognisances was Thomas Smith of 159 New Bond Street, saddler, one can fairly safely say that it was a case of a quarrel between occupiers of the same house and Thos. Smith was probably the landlord. Lydia and Edward called as their witnesses, Susannah Rickwood and Abraham Mosely but I regret that I cannot tell you what transpired as no report of the proceedings can be found. The reason why nothing more is heard of Edward as an artist is that in about 1809 he joined the army. In February of that year a British Officer, General Beresford, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese army and obtained leave from the British Cabinet to offer Portuguese commissions to British officers on home stations.3 It was thus that Edward received a Portuguese commission but I am unable to say 1 Mr. Wilfred Samuel informs nie that the ages given in the census returns were only approximate. 2 Perhaps a connection of the Browning who was one of the solicitors acting for the Western Synagogue in 1815 (C. Roth Western Synagogue, 1932, p. 149). 3 Chas. Oman, History of the Peninsular War, Vol. ii. p. 216.</page><page sequence="14">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 99 whether he had previously been in the militia from which at that time one could volunteer for the regular army or whether his brother, Benjamin, used his influence with the Duke of York. He served in the First Portuguese Infantry commanded by Colonel Sir Thomas Noel Hill and attached to Major-Gen. Sir Denis Pack's Brigade and took part in the siege of Badajoz, the retreat from Burgos, the Battle of Vittoria, the affair of Tolosa, both sieges of San Sebastian, the passage of the Biddasoa and the operations against Bayonne. He received the War Medal with two clasps for Vittoria and San Sebastian.1 On 26th November, 1812 "Ensign Edward Town from the Portuguese service" was gazetted Ensign in the 4th Regiment of Foot (King's Own) on the personal recommendation of the Duke of Wellington. After he had been promoted lieutenant, 17th March, 1814, he embarked with his regiment for America and was present at the battles around Washington, Bladensburg and Baltimore. On 1st June, 1815 he exchanged to the 25th Regiment of Foot on full pay and on 9th November, 1815 he was transferred to Dillon's Regiment on half pay. Two half-pay returns at the Public Record Office are quite informative. The first, which is dated 1828, discloses that Edward had been resident in France and the Netherlands during the previous 5 years; he states that he went on to half-pay for private motives in order to visit Portugal and that lie was ready to be employed. In the second return which is made from Brussels and dated 1847 he gives his age as 56, states that he has never been married and that he is ready to serve in any military capacity on one day's notice being perfecdy fit and having no employment of any description. He adds that he had offered his services to the War Office in 1838 at the period of the Canadian insurrection. He gives his address as c/o Cox and Co., Craigs Court, Charing Cross. Presumably Edward remained on the Continent living on his Army pay until his brother, Charles, died and he then went to live with Lydia. On her death he inherited about ?5,000 and moved to Ipswich where on 27th October, 1870 he died at the age of 80. In his will (1870 : 764) he appointed as executors T. B. Barton of Suffolk, farmer and George S. Mosse of 12 Eldon Road, Kensington and left the whole of his estate to Isabella Caldecott "now living with me". She had probably been the maid or companion of Lydia and is mentioned in her will. I thought that I had traced all the members of the Town family who would interest this Society until one day at the Guildhall Library I happened to light on a small book entitled The Art of Painting on Velvet without the use of spirit colours?divested of difficulty and obscurity. Shewing that water colours by the aid of Towne's Alumina and Instructions, are adequate to every purpose of Velvet Painting. The book was published in 1811 by the Rev. Thomas Towne. Its object was to sell T. Towne's Alumina and to show that if one only followed the author's instructions velvet painting presented no difficulties although "probably it may be the interest of some individuals to endeavour yet to involve the art in mystery and expense". As Francis Town and his family were the originators of painting on velvet there is not much doubt at whom these remarks were aimed. The association of the uncommon name of Town with the extremely unusual craft of painting on velvet can scarcely be a coincidence and one is forced to the conclusion, unlikely as it may seem, that the Rev. Thomas Towne was a relative of Francis. He was born in 1752 or 1753 and could therefore have been a brother; for 37 years he served as a dissenting minister at Royston in Cambridgeshire being the first minister of the New Meeting in Kneesworth Street there and he kept a school in Melbourne Street in what became known as Towne's Yard. He possessed considerable talent for modelling. He died 1 Harfs Army List.</page><page sequence="15">100 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY at Royston in his 77th year on 12th July, 1830.1 He may be identical with the T. Towne, a portrait painter, who exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1787 and 1791 with addresses at Waltham Abbey (1787), Pond St. and 115 St. Martins Lane (1788) and Albion St., Blackfriars (1789-1791). In the British Museum there is a book by him entitled The Automatical Camera-?Obscura, 1821, which deals with a method of projecting slides of Biblical scenes and he is described as author of The Village in an Uproar. His portrait (Plate 3) which appears in the Evangelical Magazine (Vol. 10, June 1802) bears no likeness to Francis or Benjamin Town. He was buried in the vestry of the New Meet? ing House now the Congregational Church, Royston and Dr. J. W. Parkes was kind enough to examine for me the mural tablet placed there in his memory. In his will (Tebbs 117) he mentions his wife, Mary, and five sons, John Lewis, Seth, Joseph, Thomas and Elihu. The third son, Joseph Towne (1808-1879), was the most eminent member of the family and has a whole page devoted to him in the Dictionary of National Biography. He had a great reputation as a sculptor and more particularly as the originator of a system of making models for the medical profession. He was engaged continuously between 1826 and 1877 at Guy's Hospital where he occupied rooms and most of his models are preserved in the Hospital Museum. The history of the Town family shows that painting on velvet hitherto regarded as a Victorian craft was already firmly established as a fashionable occupation in the time of the Prince Regent. At first it may have had some artistic merit and according to Benjamin Town's evidence covered a wide range of subjects including portraits and landscapes but I have so far failed to trace any of these early examples. The craft later enjoyed an enormous vogue when it was popularised' by the introduction of stencils and other easy methods of reproducing pictures which with the use of ready prepared paints made it an ideal pastime for Victorian women. Painted velvet for cushion covers, fire screens, table tops etc., adorned with fruit and flowers date from this period and examples are not difficult to find. In a book published in 1829 containing a number of coloured plates of fruit, flowers etc.2 the writer says : "the art of painting on velvet is now carried to a high degree of perfection; the downy surface of the velvet and the brilliancy of the liquid colours used to produce fruit and flowers, give it a decided superiority over any other kind of flower painting for ornamenting bell ropes, ottomans etc." The colours required could be bought ready prepared at most of the fancy colour shops for about two shillings a bottle but any lady who contemplated velvet painting on a large scale for the purpose of furnish? ing was advised to mix her own colours in accordance with the directions given. The velvet had to be of white cotton. Instructions were given as to how the subject could be traced from a drawing or print.3 A different method of painting on velvet with a silk base had been developed in France by Gaspard Gregoire (1751-1822) employing a highly complicated technique whereby the design was incorporated into the material while it was being woven.4 How did it come about that a Jewish family was responsible for the introduction of painting on velvet ? When one considers that the object of this technique was to obtain, by a quick and simple method, the effect of embroidery, a craft in which English Jews 1 Evangelical Magazine, 1830, Vol. viii N.S. p. 360; A. Kingston, History of Royston, 1906. 2 N. Whittock, The Art of Drawing and Colouring from Nature . . . to which is added correct directions for . . .Painting on Velvet, 1829. 3 See also F. Lichten, Decorative Art of Victoria's Era, New York, 1950. 4 H. Algoud, Gaspard Gregoire et ses Velours d'Art, Paris 1908.</page><page sequence="16">FRANCIS TOWN O* BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 101 had for long been prominent, the question is not so difficult to answer. Mortimer's Universal Director for 1763 the first of the London Directories with a classified list of trades gives the names of six embroiderers of whom two are Jews : "Levy Isaac, Strand, opposite Durham Yard" and "Mordecai Moses, Bullen Court, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden". The first is already known to us by his Trade Card (Plate 6). Another embroiderer, Phillip Phillips of Denmark Court, Strand, is mentioned in a document dated 1797.1 But the two outstanding craftsmen in the first part of the 19th century were Victor Abraham and Nathan Lewis, both of whom received royal appoint? ments in 1837 on Queen Victoria's accession. Lewis had already held a royal warrant under William IV and Abraham's family, which had been established as embroiderers in London as early as 1729 remained in business until fairly recent times.2 There may also have been a Jewish element in the firm of Hamburgher and Rogers who held a royal warrant as Gold Lace Men in 1839.8 Francis Town was certainly acquainted with most of the craftsmen I have named; they all lived West of Temple Bar in the area frequented by artists and they must have been members of the same synagogue but it may be that he was more directly inspired by a co-religionist who lived on the eastern side of the city, in Spitalfields, the centre of the silk weaving industry. This was a certain A. Polack "artist from the Hague" who in 1788 was advertising his "French Stencil Painting Plates. The most simple and curious method ever known for ladies to paint on silk, satin, tiffany, muslin, etc."4 I have so far failed to discover at what stage in his career the velvet painter adopted "Francis" as a Christian name but I did find that in the 18th century it was frequently coupled with the surname "Town" as were the forenames, "Lydia" and "Charles". During the velvet painter's lifetime there were two other persons named Francis Towne who figured in the London Directories ; one was the landscape painter (in Mortimer's 1763 Directory he is described as landscape and flower painter) and the other a brandy merchant of Shoreditch who died in 1805 at High Wy combe (Will: Nelson 137). The two artists would have had abundant opportunities of meeting in London and Towne of Exeter himself seems to have had an address in New Bond Street in 1797 but his biographer, Mr. A. P. Oppe5 who was good enough to search his records, was unable to find any point of contact. If they did meet, it might well have been through the landscape painter's greatest friend, the miniature painter, Richard Cosway. (In Francis Towne's will, Cosway was left a legacy of ?25 and a drawing). Cosway was a mystic who seems to have dabbled in black magic and whose religious fervour found expression in many strange forms.6 He obviously had a great deal more to do with Judaism than we know about and I feel certain that when Casanova described the best miniature painter in London as a Jew he was referring to Cosway, who in 1761 was exhibiting portraits on rings, the type of miniature which Casanova commissioned. Cosway was intimate with, and shared the same beliefs with William Sharp, the engraver, the devoted supporter of Richard Brothers, "Prince of The Hebrews"; he had his daughter taught Hebrew and his name appears in the List of Subscribers to David Levi's Fast Day Services 5553 (1793). 1 Roth, op. cit. p. 38. 2 Ibid. p. 22. 3 Royal Kalendar, 1839. 4 Trans. Vol. XIV p. 108. 5 Francis Towne in Vol. VIII of The Walpole Society 1920. 6 For Richard Cosway see Pasquin, Memoirs of The Royal Academicians, 1796; Nollekens and his Times, 1920 ed. Vol. ii p. 328 and D.N.B. H</page><page sequence="17">102 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY But the best evidence of his Jewish associations is the following newspaper cutting which I have recently discovered in the Whitley papers : "Cosway?Humphrey 14th April, 1789. From the fracas between the two miniature painters at the Royal Academy dinner it was whimsically circulated among the friends of the graphic corps "that a battle had been fought at the Academy between Humphreys and the Jew I"1 The allusion, of course, is to the classic fight in 1788 between the two pugilists Richard Humphries and Daniel Mendoza. There is also the following curious announcement which appeared the same year : "Mr. Cosway is requested to be a little more select?some improper people are seen now and then knocking at his door?the Turnkey of a prison ought alone to open a door to the visitors we allude to".2 All attempts to trace Francis Town in the synagogue registers have proved un? successful. The Rev. Arthur Barnett was good enough to examine the Western Synagogue records and I have been through the Burial Register of the Brady Street Cemetery and also the New Synagogue records. As Lydia Town married the son of a warden of the Maiden Lane Synagogue it was of course always more likely that the Town family was attached to that Synagogue but unfortunately its records have disappeared and the cemetery in Bancroft Road, Mile End has been so badly bombed that few of the tombstones have survived. I recently came across a clue to Francis Town's origin after I had abandoned all hope of tracing him back before his Bond Street days. In Midrash Phineas, a book published in London in 1795, there is a list of subscribers in Hebrew arranged according to synagogues. Among the members of the New Synagogue I found i.e. Isaac the son of Benjamin Thun (or Town). The New Synagogue was one of the three City Synagogues to which members of the Western Synagogue were attached for burial purposes and if this is Francis Town as I believe it to be, then Benjamin would have been his eldest son having been named after his grandfather in accordance with Jewish tradition. As to the origin of the name "Thun", the gazeteer gives only the town in Switzerland, an unlikely source for a Jewish name and I gratefully accept the theory put forward by Dr. O. K. Rabinowicz that it denotes a family which had lived on the estates of the noble house of Thun-Hohenstein in South Tyrol, a country from which most of the Jews were expelled in the middle of the 18th century. FURTHER NOTES ON EARLY ANGLO-JEWISH ARTISTS.3 Catherine Da Costa George Vertue (1684-1765) has left the following note about Catherine Da Costa : "One of the Da Costa Jews daughters learn't to limne of Bernard Lens for many years she having begun about 1712 continued to 1730?in this time she coppyd many pictors and 1 Press cuttings from Eng. Newspapers 1686-1835 in the V. &amp; A. Museum, Vol. ii. p. 493. 2 Ibid. Vol. ii. p. 528. 8 The writer's first article on this subject appeared in Trans. Vol. XIV. I wish to express my deep gratitude for the advice and help Mr. Graham Reynolds has given me on a number of occasions. I also wish to acknowledge the help I have received</page><page sequence="18">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 103 limnings mostly all the remarkable pictors of Fame in England painted by Rubens, Vindyke and other masters which Mr. Lens her instructor had copyd, all these furnished a Room and are said to be done by herself which makes a very good collection for a Lady's Cabinet".1 Although Bernard Lens the elder (1659-1725) was a drawing master it was his son, Bernard Lens the younger (1682-1740), who copied many of the works of Rubens and Vandyck and was evidently Catherine's teacher. He numbered among his pupils William, Duke of Cumberland, the Princesses Mary and Louisa and Horace Walpole. He achieved a reputation as a miniaturist and it was no doubt through his influence that Catherine embarked on the painting of miniatures on ivory, a technique which he pioneered in England. His portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots served as the model for the one painted by Catherine which is now in the Miniature Room of Ham House.2 But besides working as a copyist, Catherine painted portraits of her family circle, two of which are now in the Jewish Museum, London. One is a miniature on ivory of her weakling son, Abraham (Plate 10) which Mr. Graham Reynolds considers an interesting picture as a very early example of painting on ivory and on account of the unusual media employed : oil for the background, gouache for the costume and hair and transparent water colour for the features and hands. It is signed "C. da Costa 1714". The other, also a portrait, is signed and inscribed on the back in her own hand "Mr. Salvadore. Catherine Da Costa Fecit Feb. Ye 13th 1720". The sitter was probably Francis (Jacob) Salvador3 merchant of Lime Street, London, whose wife Anna or Rachel, daughter of Antonio Mendes da Costa, was related to Catherine. These two pictures were bought in 1953 in Amsterdam from a member of the Pinto-Suasso family and the manner in which this family acquired them is disclosed by Catherine's will (Appendix 1). After the death of her son, Abraham, in 1760, one quarter of her pictures devolved on her son-in-law, Baron Suasso, the widower of her daughter, Rachel, and another quarter on her daughter Leonor, wife of Alvaro (Jacob Israel) Lopez Suasso whose portrait painted by Peter Paul Lens was bought by the Jewish Museum with the two pictures already mentioned. This portrait, also a miniature, not only proves the sourse of the other two but shows how the association with the Lens family continued for another generation, Peter Paul being the son of the younger Bernard Lens. There remains in Amsterdam another portrait by Catherine da Costa of a member of the Lopez Suasso family, and Mr. H. E. Backer informs me that he handled a self portrait of her in Germany some years ago. The miniature on ivory reproduced here (Plate 9) was sold at Sotheby's on 7th May, 1956 (Lot 17) and came from the estate of Mrs. S. H. Ricardo. Although signed "G. da Costa" and dated 1701 that is no doubt that it is by Catherine and that the signature has been worked over. At the same time the date was improved by ten or twenty years. from Mr. H. E. Backer; Mr. H. Burrow, Curator of The Holbourne of Menstrie Museum ; Major R. M. O. De la Hey; Mrs. Hilda F. Finberg; Mr. W. S. Haugh, City Librarian Bristol; Mr. A. J. B. Kiddell j Mr. Wilfred S. Samuel; Mr. H. Sargeant, City Librarian Portsmouth and Mr. L. R. Schidlof. I am particularly indebted to Mr. Peter Pagan, Director of the Bath Municipal Libraries and Art Gallery for supplying copies of the extensive notes about Joseph Daniel prepared by R. W. M. Wright, a former Director and by Miss Dunman, former Curator of the Bristol Art Gallery. 1 B. M. Add. Mss. 23079 f.26. Printed in full in The Walpole Society. Vol. XXII (Vertue III). 2 Geo. C. Williamson, The History of Portrait Miniatures, Vol. i. pp. 42 and 98. 3 His death was announced in the Gentleman's Magazine, 27th February, 1736 : "Mr. Salvadore a Jew worth ?100,000".</page><page sequence="19">104 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY The two children are possibly members of Catherine's family circle and the orange they appear to beholding is perhaps intended to denote their loyalty to the House of Orange. Alexander Cooper The reference to Samuel Cooper in my earlier article on early Anglo-Jewish Artists1 brought me a letter from Dr. George Williamson of which the following is an extract: "I notice on p. 35 your statement as to Samuel Cooper, the famous miniaturist, being by some people regarded as a Jew, but you have confused him with his brother, Abraham Alexander Cooper, who was undoubtedly a Jew, because in the various documents that I inspected in Sweden, he is spoken of as "the Jew" or "the Jewish artist", but I think it is out of the question that he was born a Jew, and I agree with my good friend Dr. Roth in saying that he probably became a Jew, and if you will look to p. 281, note B. of Roth's History of the Jews in England, you will see what Dr. Roth has to say in the matter. He made one mistake in that note, he spoke of Alexander Cooper as one of the most distinguished miniaturists of the seventeenth century. He was not that, it was his brother Samuel Cooper who was the most distinguished miniaturist of the seventeenth century, but Alexander settled in Stockholm, and there is no doubt whatever that he was regarded as a Jew, and spoken of as a Jew; the documents that I refer to in more than one of my books make this a question of certainty." I have referred to the account of Alexander Cooper in Dr. Williamson's History of Portrait Miniatures, 1904 (Vol. 1. p. 83) and find that the only evidence of Cooper's Jewish affiliations is the entry : "Abraham Alexander Cooper, the Jew, portrait painter" which Dr. Williamson discovered in a list of persons living in Stockholm in 1647 but for which he gives no reference. He goes on to say that this is the only instance he found of Cooper being described as a Jew. Yet in his article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (13th Ed. Vol. 7 p. 78) he talks about "documents" as he does in his letter to me. The description given to Cooper could easily be accounted for by the jealousy which a success? ful artist might arouse in a foreign country and it looks as if Dr. Williamson, who himself boasted of his Mendes da Costa blood, allowed his enthusiasm to carry him awray. J. zoffany John Zoffany's alleged Jewish origin also accepted by Dr. Williamson is of equally doubtful validity. It apparently rests on a story circulated, and probably invented by, Anthony Pasquin the full text of which is as follows : "Johan Zoffanii. R.A. historical and portrait painter is a native of Germany; he was found on the banks of the Weser, like another Moses, swaddled but half starved. Under whom he originally studied the art of painting, or the art of living, is as problematical as his philosophy . . . He is indubitably one of the flowers of Benjamin, although his name may not be enrolled in the schedule of Dukes Place and notwithstanding his apparent backslidings from the most revered statutes of Israel. He arrived in London about thirty years since and then lodged in the attic tenement of a Mr. Lyon, a kind hebrew, who resided in Shire Lane near Temple Bar; his fortunes were then so low that his cates were more scarce than rare. The harp of his father was hung on a willow in the desert and there was no musick in his soul; his thought introduced misery and misery desperation. At this eventful epoch the heavy clouds which darkened his existence began to pass away; he saw the promised Canaan in a 1 Trans. Vol. XIV. p. 123.</page><page sequence="20">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 105 vision and his nerves were restrung by fortitude. By the beneficent offices of his levitical inmate, he was introduced to Mr. B. Wilson, a portrait painter in oils who instantly engaged Mr. Zoffanii to paint his draperies. .. ,"1 The story that Zoffany obtained his first employment with Benjamin Wilson to paint his draperies is confirmed in The Earwig (London 1781) where it is stated that they were introduced by an artist who was well acquainted with Wilson. It goes on to say : "The art of Z? was soon successful and he got to the outline of his ambition?but in this career he became acquainted with a Jew's wife, whom he bedecked with the pomp of a Rembrant's Burgomaster's wife. The Israelite feeling the impetuous cullibility of our Painter, bullied him in bed and board?and he found himself so entangled in her charms, that he resolved to circuit round the world with Banks and Solander, to extricate himself from the hole he had got into". Pasquin, whose real name was John Williams, was a blackmailer "almost subsisting upon timid painters and performers musical and theatrical who feared his attacks in newspapers or in his abusive verses".2 No reliance can be placed on him and it is significant that the earlier scandal sheet, The Earwig, makes no reference to Zoffany's Jewish origin. Shire Lane was a street with an evil reputation and an examination of the Rate Books failed to disclose anyone of the name of Lyon living there between 1755 and 1762. I have already mentioned that Richard Cosway was on one occasion called a Jew and apparently so was Ozias Humphrey.3 Zoffany's Jewish origin seems to have little more foundation. The Daniel Family According to Hart, Nochaniah Daniel of Bridgwater in Somerset had three sons : Abraham who worked as a miniature painter at Plymouth; Joseph a miniature painter at Bath with "an extensive connection among people of rank and fashion" and Phineas, all of whom received instruction from their mother?"a very ingenious woman"?as Hart calls her. Phineas Daniel worked in Bristol as a watchmaker, silversmith and engraver between 1785 and 1800 and was at 14 Clare Street in 1794. He died at Philadelphia in January 1805 leaving a family in Bristol consisting of his widow, a son Abraham and three daughters. On his Trade Card (Plate 8) he is described as "Daniel real working Goldsmith and Watch Maker, Clare Street, Bristol.4 Joseph Daniel, miniature painter, jeweller and engraver, worked in crayons and oils and executed pictures in hair. He practised at Bristol from 1777 onwards and later at Bath. In 1783 he exhibited a miniature of "A Jew Rabbi" at the Society of Artists giving his address as Clare Street, Bristol.5 and according to the Bristol Directory he was "at Mr. Baker's, Clare Street" in 1785. He exhibited again in 1799, this time at the 1 Anthony Pasquin, An Authentic History of the Professors of Painting Sculpture and Architecture who have practised in Ireland . . . to which are added Memoirs of the Royal Academicians ..." 1796, p. 34. 2 John Taylor, Records of My Life, Vol. 1. p. 276. 8 G. Reynolds, English Portrait Miniatures, 1952, p. 159. 4 A Rubens, A Jewish Iconography, 1954, p. 80. Matthews*s New Bristol Directory 1793-4, p. 27 ; G. H. Baillie, Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World, 1947, p. 75. Will of Abraham Daniel: Pitt 919. 5 A Graves, The Society of Artists, 1907 p. 70,</page><page sequence="21">106 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY Royal Academy showing five miniature portraits and giving his address as 17 New Bond Street, London.1 On 26 January, 1780, The Bath Chronicle noted the arrival of "Mr. Daniel" and from 1786 onwards he seems to have made Bath his centre. He can be traced there through the Rate Books and Directories and in numerous advertisements in The Bath Chronicle and the following announcement which appeared in that paper on 11 April 1796 is some evidence of the reputation he had established : "We are happy to announce to the public the perfect recovery from a most dangerous illness of Mr. Daniel our first artist as a Miniature painter; and sincerely hope his usual close applica? tion to painting will not again impair his health?though to rise to such exquisite perfection in so fine an art has certainly required the greatest and most continued attention. His renovated health will, it is hoped, add new charms to his admirable pictures." Daniel continued to suffer from ill-health and was obliged to publish the following notice in The Bath Chronicle for 7 January, 1802 : "Mr. Daniel begs leave to inform his friends and the Public that he continues as usual to Paint in Miniature ; And the report of his having declined his profession is entirely unfounded and erroneous." In the issue of the paper for 2 December, 1802 appears this letter : "Mr. Printer. I think it but a small tribute due to merit to bestow my sentiments through the medium of a public paper that I may impose more than the common reward, where it has been modestly refused;?Some Miniatures were executed in so striking and so masterly a manner by Mr. Daniel for my family, that I was induced to press more than the usual emolument for the (I must say) invaluable performance?it was refused acceptance ! May the artist esteem this mode of acknowledgment the effect of gratitude; and when I add that I ever encourage real merit only, may it influence the discerning public to reward him as he so highly deserves. Candidus, Great Pulteney Street, Nov. 30th. Joseph Daniel died at Bath aged 43 on 29 August, 1803 leaving a widow and one son, John Daniel, who were living at Exeter in 1806. He also left a number of illegitimate children at Bristol which may explain why he still had an address there in 1792. The following obituary notice appeared in Felix Farley's Bristol Journal, 3 September, 1803: "On Monday last died, after a painful and lingering illness, which he bore with the utmost fortitude for upwards of 13 months Mr. Joseph Daniel aged 43 years ; long an eminent miniature painter of this city and of Bath." Short obituary notices also appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine (Vol. 73 Sept. 1803). Bonner and Middleton's Bristol Journal 3 Sept. 1803 and The Bath Chronicle 31 Aug. 1803. Abraham Daniel practised at Plymouth as a miniature painter, engraver and jeweller. S. A. Hart's father, Samuel Hart, was apprenticed to him in 1779 to study miniature painting and engraving and remembered an engraving he had made of Ilminster or Ilchester Church. The only known signed work by him is a sketch of Rabbi Moses Ephraim of Plymouth (Plate 11). It would appear that Abraham Daniel was in the habit of visiting Bath where he set himself up for the season in opposition to his brother, Joseph, each obstinately claiming to be "Mr. Daniel". Either of them could have been responsible for this advertisement in The Bath Chronicle for 11 January 1787 : 1 A. ?ravts Rayal Academy, 1905, ii p. 241.</page><page sequence="22">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 107 Miniature Painting No. 3 Abbey Green. Mr. Daniel begs leave to inform the Nobility and Gentry, that he is return'd to Bath for the season?Those who may not be acquainted with his terms etc. are respectfully informed that he will be no means accept payment for a Picture which is not esteemed a striking likeness, and an approved Painting. (This advertisement also appeared on 12th April, 1787.) But it is difficult to explain the following announcements unless the brothers were working in Bath at the same time : 5th September 1799. page 3 col. 3. Mr. Daniel Miniature Painter Begs leave to inform his Friends and the Public, that he is returned to No. 8 Alfred Street, Bath. 26th September, 1799. page 3 col. 3. Mr. Daniel Miniature Painter Begs leave to inform his Friends and the Public, that he is returned to No. 33 Milsom-street, Bath. Abraham Daniel died at Plymouth on 11 March, 1806 and by his will,1 which was taken down on his death-bed by Samuel Hart, left legacies to his mistress and two illegitimate sons and ?20 to the charity of the Plymouth Synagogue. The estate was valued at ?1500 and the residue went to his two sisters, Rachael Nathan and Rebecca Almon both of Plymouth. Their declarations which are attached to the filed copy of the will provide much information about the remainder of the family. There remains the question of the authorship of a type of miniature with certain strong characteristics which has hitherto been attributed to "Abraham Daniel" or "Daniel of Bath". Mr. Graham Reynolds, the leading authority on English miniatures, has been good enough to describe their salient features in the following communication ; "The miniatures which at present are attributed to Daniel of Bath have many clearly marked characteristics, though, as is usually the case, these are easier to recognise than describe. Both the high lights and the shadows on the face of his sitters are rendered with unusual breadth. In particular, the light on the bridge of the nose is broad, and the shadowed parts of the nostrils and the lips are emphatic and given sharp edges. The eyes are large and more open, and the shadow under the top eyelid again is well marked and prominent. The miniatur? ist draws the hair softly, in large masses and without much detail. There is not usually much work on the background. The miniatures have, compared with others of their time, an unusually glossy appearance, almost as if they were painted in thin oil, which of course they are not. I think this effect is to be attributed partly to the breadth of lighting and partly to the gum in the pigments. In a few of the miniatures so attributed (e.g. one in Mr. Alan Evans' collection) (Plate 15) there are signs of a slightiy different technique : more stippling on the face, touches of opaque white on the costume and a more heavily painted background. It might be possible to apply these criteria to a hypothetical distinction between the styles of two men otherwise closely similar, and one might go on to attribute one style to Joseph and the other to Abraham Daniel. But this would be highly speculative in the present state of our knowledge ; and the differences are not wider than may be seen at times in the work of the same miniaturist." Bryan and other art dictionaries credit the Daniel miniatures to Abraham Daniel following S. Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists (1878). Redgrave probably heard of Abra? ham from S. A. Hart and attached to him some biographical data relating to Joseph. Hart had by then forgotten Joseph but it does seem from what he had written about him years before and from the obituary notices which appeared after Joseph's death that it was Joseph who was originally regarded as the more eminent of the brothers. The matter 1 Pitt 919,</page><page sequence="23">108 FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1837-1826) AND HIS FAMILY is not free from doubt and Basil Long in his British Miniaturists (1929) mentions a miniature of Dr. Harrington by Daniel signed "A.D." at the back but unfortunately this picture cannot be traced although Major R. M. O. de la Hey, the present owner of the collection to which it belonged, kindly made a careful search for it. Examples of the Daniel miniatures ate not uncommon but until a signed work appears their authorship cannot be settled conclusively nor can one rule out the possibility that the work of the two brothers is indistinguishable. Sir Thomas Lawrence, the portrait painter, is known to have acquired the rudiments of his art at Bristol and Bath and Basil Long wrote in 1935 to Mr. R. W. M. Wright, a former Director of the Bath Art Gallery, on the subject of Joseph Daniel: "I have long suspected as I think I have mentioned before that Lawrence was a pupil of, or at least influenced by, Daniel, and that some of the miniatures in the Daniel manner are by Lawrence". The Victoria and Albert Museum have three miniatures attributed to Daniel (Plates 13-15) and four sketches with an attribution to Abraham Daniel believed to be in S. A. Hart's writing. There are two more of these miniatures in the Holbourne of Menstrie Museum, Bath, and one in the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. Miss Helen Mosely has a miniature by Daniel of her great-grandfather, Jacob A. Mosely (1765-1845), watch and clock-maker of Swansea (Plate 16), which is painted in the same manner as one in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Plate 15). He was the son of Rabbi Moses Zelig and held the rank of Sergeant in the Glamorgan Yeomanry. Mrs. De Castro No examples of the flower paintings of Mrs. de Castro have come to light. She was evidently Sarah Judith de Castro who was born in 1752 and at the age of 14 married her uncle, Daniel de Castro. Their portraits by Tilly Kettle (formerly attributed to Zoffany) are now in the Jewish Museum. She died at Stoke Newington 23 May, 1824. In her will1 she mentions several drawings and leaves to David da Silva "his beloved and ever remembered friend's drawing in pen and ink of fisherman from Mortimer". S. Polack The statement that Solomon Polack practised successfully in Dublin is made by Pasquin who calls him an Englishman.2 By his will8 Polack left all his property to his wife, Sarah. He is described as formerly of 158 Strand and late of 8 Park Terrace, Kings Road, Chelsea. Administration was granted in 1839 to his widow and to his son Joel Samuel Polack. The Victoria and Albert Museum has two miniatures by Polack and one by his son. G. H. Israel The Jewish Museum has recently acquired two copies of engravings drawn in pen and ink signed "George Helbert Israel Fecit" and dated 1819. He was a son of Maria and Israel Israel. 1 Erskine 598. 2 Pasquin op. cit, p. 40. 8 Vaughan 645,</page><page sequence="24">7 TRADE CARDS 8 Aaron Hart engraved by Benjamin Levi (Hebrew Union College) (See p. 109) Philip Abrahams (Jewish Museum) (See p. 101) 6. Levi Isaacs (Jewish Museum) (See p. 101) 8. Phineas Daniel (British Museum) (See p. 105)</page><page sequence="25"></page><page sequence="26"></page><page sequence="27"></page><page sequence="28">f ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ' vHhk&gt; * i^i^l^^B ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ?HKt^ - 0*rj^^^m m 16. Jacob A. Mosely of Swansea. from a miniature by Daniel in the possession of his great granddaughter, Miss Helen Mosely. Initials on back J.A.M. (See p. 108)</page><page sequence="29">17 18 20 19 TRADE CARDS OF JEWISH ENGRAVERS 17. Benjamin Levi (Hebrew Union College) 18. Moses Mordecai (Hebrew Union College (See p. 109) 19. Ezekiel Abraham Ezekiel (Victoria and Albert Museum) (See p. 109) 20. Yates and Hess (British Museum) (See p. 109)</page><page sequence="30"></page><page sequence="31">F / 9e ^ m \ 1 23-24. Miniature by Solomon Polack with Attached Label from the original in the author's collection {See p. 108)</page><page sequence="32">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 109 Francis Lindo Francis Lindo is unlikely to have been a Jew despite his Sephardic name. His portraits which are to be found in many English country houses were the subject of recent correspondence in Country Life (26 December, 1952, 13 February, 13 and 20 March, 2 April and 8 May, 1953). An examination of the Administration Book at Somerset House for 23 March, 1767 disclosed that his real name was Joseph Beschey and I conclude that he was Joseph Hendrik Beschey who came of a well-known family of artists in Antwerp where he was born in 1714. I. M. Belisario Isaac Mendes Belisario emigrated to Jamaica where he is best known for his book of illustrations of negro types consisting of 12 lithographed plates which he published in parts in 1837 (Sketches of Character in illustration of the Habits, Occupations and Costume of the Negro Population in the Island of Jamaica. Drawn after nature and in lithography by I. M. Belisario ... Published by the artist at his residence No. 21 King Street, Kingston, Jamaica . . . 1837). The plates are well drawn and the book is scarce and in demand by collectors. Belisario also painted portraits in Jamaica including one of Rev. Isaac Lopez.1 The Levi Family Benjamin Levi engraved Trade Cards between 1730 and 1748 including that of Aaron Hart (Plate 5). He certainly engraved his own Trade Cards, one of which I have already described (Plate 17) but there is another which reads : "Benjamin Levi at the 'Golden Seal' near the corner of White's Row on Portsmouth Common".2 Mr. Frank R. Waley possesses a miniature of Benjamin's son, Jacob (Plate 21), who like his two brothers was engaged in the family craft of engraving.3 But the tradition evidently persisted for another generation for I was recently shown a coloured lithograph (11 x 15 ins.) entitled : "Representation of the Forensic Court, 24th October, 1832 at the trial of Henry Stanhope for the murder of Adolphus Fitzclarence by Duelling. . . . Drawn on stone by J. Levi. . . Pubd. by . . . and J. Levi, Queen St. Portsea." E. A. Ezekiel The Trade Card of Ezekiel Abraham Ezekiel (Plate 19) which is an example of his own engraving shows that he was engaged in business as "engraver in general optician, goldsmith and printseller". He engraved a portrait of the quack doctor, William Brodum.4 Yates and Hess The Trade Card of Yates and Hess (Plate 20) shows that they were in business at Lord Street, Liverpool, as engravers and printers. 1 Cat. Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition 1887 p. 50. No. 972. J.A.P.M. Andrade, A Record of the Jews of Jamaica, Kingston, 1941, p. 158. 2 Ambrose Heal, The Trade Cards of Engravers in Print Collector's Quarterly, July 1927, 3 Trans. Vol. XIII. p. 161 note. 4 A, Rubens, op. cit. p. 118,</page><page sequence="33">110 francis town of bond street (1738-1826) and his family R. Benjamin and E. Benjamin R. Benjamin, engraver, of London exhibited in 1825 at the Society of British Artists1 and the Victoria and Albert Museum has several engravings dating from 1836-7 by the engraver, E. Benjamin. J. F. Burrell Joseph Francis Burrell (b. 1770; working until 1834), miniaturist and landscape artist, must have been the "little Jew ... a clever sensible creature" who gave lessons in oil painting to Sir Walter Scott. He came from Prussia where his father had been a commissary in the army of Frederick The Great.2 He exhibited five landscapes and a miniature at the Royal Academy in 1801, 1803 and 1807 and was then at 7 Rathbone Place, London. The Victoria and Albert Museum has ten landscape sketches by him in water colour and four miniatures painted on ivory one of which is dated 1813 and gives his address as 17 Soho Square, London. APPENDIX Will of Catherine da Costa IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. I Catherina da Costa of London Widow being in perfect health of Body and sound in mind and memory do make and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament hereby revoking all others made by me heretofore and first I commend my soul into the hands of my Creator the Lord God of Heaven and Earth begging of him with all submission pardon for all my sins my Body I desire may be interred in the new burying ground of the Portuguese Congregation at Mile End next to my dear husband in a place he has purchased for me I desire to have button mourning coaches at my funeral besides the herse and that I may have a plain stone upon my grave with no sort of ornament but my name the date of the month year I give and bequeath to the servants that shall be with me at my death and likewise to my sons man five pounds each for mourning and desire my dear and beloved son Abraham da Costa to give to the poor what he thinks proper observing that the legacy I give to the Synagogue I have already given I give and bequeath to my said dear son Abraham da Costa all the pictures and drawings made by me to be enjoyed by him for as long as he lives or as long as he pleases to keep them and then I desire they may be divided into four equal parts as near as can be the one fourth part I give to the Honourable Baron Suasso my son in law one fourth part to my dear daughter Sarah Mendes da Costa one fourth part to my dear daughter Leanor Suasso and the other fourth part to my dear daughter Ester Perira hoping they will keep them in memory of a Mother who loved them with great tender? ness and who would have been extremely glad to have had more to have given them but as thanks be to God they are all settled and established in the world in great plenty and affluence and my dear son never having received any portion from his Father and is weak and unable to provide for himself I therefore give and bequeath unto him my said dear son Abraham da Costa all the residue and remainder of my Estate whatsoever and wheresoever of what nature and kind or quality so ever the same now is or may or shall be at the time of my decease as well real as personal after payment of my debts funeral expenses and legacies hereinbefore mentioned to him his Heirs Exors Admini? strators and Assigns forever and so constitute and appoint him my said son to be my sole Heir and Executor of this my Last Will and Testament written with my own hand this third day of June in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-seven Catherina da Costa?signed sealed pub? lished and declared by the said Testatrix as and for her last Will in the presence of us who at her request and in her presence as also in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses Richard Waters David Mendes da Costa John Hotchkis 1 A. Graves, Dictionary of Artists, 1895. 8 7%? Journal of Sir Walter Scott 1825-6, Edinburgh &amp; London 1939, Vol. i. p. 118</page><page sequence="34">FRANCIS TOWN OF BOND STREET (1738-1826) AND HIS FAMILY 111 THIS WILL was proved at London the twentieth day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six before the Worshipful Andrew Coltee Ducarol(?) Doctor of Laws Surrogate of the Right Honourable Sir George Lee Knight Doctor of Laws Master Keeper or Commissary of the prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted by the Oath of Abraham da Costa the son of the deceased and Sole Executor named in the said Will to whom Administration was granted of all and singular the Goods Chattels and Credits etc etc.</page></plain_text>