General Thomas Gage by Jeremiah Meyer miniature

Jeremiah Meyer (born ''Jeremias Majer''; 18 January 1735 – 20 January 1789) was an 18th-century English

miniature painter A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

. He was Painter in Miniatures to

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

, Painter in Enamels to

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

and was one of the founder members of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

Early life and education

Meyer was born in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

as a son of the German painter Wolfgang Dietrich Majer. In about 1750 he was brought to England by his father, though sources disagree on date and age. In 1757–8, Meyer studied enamel painting with Christian Friedrich Zincke, paying £400 for tuition and materials. His style was influenced by attention to detail of the work of

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

Career

Meyer's background as an enamel painter contrasted with the training of contemporary English miniaturists such as

Samuel Finney Samuel Finney (1857 – 14 April 1935) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Life and career Born at Talk-o'-th'-Hill, Finney began working when he was ten years old, and later became a coal miner. In 1881, he was appointed ...

and Gervase Spencer. These initially worked in watercolour on ivory and only turned later to enamels as the popularity of enamelists like Zincke's work grew. He may have spent time at Hogarth's St Martin's Lane Academy. In 1760 and 1764 Meyer exhibited enamels with the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

. In 1761 he was awarded a gold medal prize of £20 by the Society of Artists for a portrait of the king in profile, drawn from memory, engravings from this by

James MacArdell James MacArdell (1729?–1765) was an Irish mezzotinter. Life He was born in Cow Lane (later Greek Street), Dublin, around 1729. He learnt mezzotint-engraving from John Brooks. When Brooks moved to London in 1746, MacArdell and other pupils fol ...

and others were very popular. In the same year the king gave Charlotte a miniature of himself by Meyer, set in an oval of diamonds within a pearl bracelet, as an engagement present. In 1764 he was appointed miniature painter to

, and painter in enamel to George III. In 1765 Meyer became one of the original directors of the

Incorporated Society of Artists The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in May 1761 by an association of artists in order to provide a venue for the public exhibition of recent work by living artists, such as was having success in the long-established P ...

, and in 1768 was chosen a foundation member of the

. He contributed to the Academy's exhibitions until 1783, sending several portraits of members of the Royal Family. The establishment of the Royal Academy pension fund in 1775 was due to Meyer's initiative. He was a friend of both George Romney and

William Hayley William Hayley (9 November 174512 November 1820) was an English writer, best known as the biographer of his friend William Cowper. Biography Born at Chichester, he was sent to Eton in 1757, and to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1762; his conne ...

, and brought them together in 1776. Several details of Meyer's life come from Hayley's biography of Romney. His name has often been associated with head of the king used on coinage. It is not certain that his work was used on coins minted in Britain, but his profile of George III was used on a

pistole Pistole is the French name given to a Spanish gold coin in use from 1537; it was a doubloon or double escudo, the gold unit. The name was also given to the Louis d'Or of Louis XIII of France, and to other European gold coins of about the value ...

of 1767 for the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Personal life

Meyer was naturalised in 1762. In 1763 he married Barbara Marsden, an artist from childhood, and lived for many years at Tavistock Row,

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

. They had two or possibly three sons and four daughters. One of his sons, George Charles Meyer, worked as a civil servant in Calcutta apparently on the recommendation of

who described him as "the son of a particular friend of mine". He retired to Kew, living with his family in a house on the north side of Kew Green for many years simply known as 'Meyer's House'. The adjacent road leading from Kew Green to the River Thames, now 'Ferry Lane', was known as 'Meyer's Alley' for over a century after Meyer's death. The house is now known as 'Hanover House'. It was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

in 1950 and forms part of the

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (calle ...

of Kew Gardens. Joshua Meyer died at Kew on 20 January 1789 and is buried in the churchyard of

St Anne's Church, Kew St Anne's Church, Kew, is a parish church in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The building, which dates from 1714, and is Grade II* listed, forms the central focus of Kew Green. The raised churchyard, which is on three side ...

, close to Gainsborough. A mural tablet to his memory, with a medallion portrait and some eulogistic verses by Hayley, is inside the north aisle of the church. He was survived by at least two daughters and another son, William, and his widow, who remained at the house until her death on 18 April 1818.

References

External links

* *
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections

Works by Jeremiah Meyer at the Victoria & Albert Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Jeremiah 1735 births 1789 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters Portrait miniaturists English enamellers German enamellers 18th-century enamellers Burials at St. Anne's Church, Kew People from Tübingen Royal Academicians 18th-century English male artists