In 1755, at the age of fourteen, John Smart began to enter pencil and chalk drawings for prizes at the Society of Arts. After coming in second to Richard Cosway in the first competition, he went on to secure first prize in the following three. The 18th Century was a highly prosperous period for the miniature painter, and witnessed the success of Cosway and Engleheart to name just two.

During the 1760s, Smart was a rival to the equally young Richard Cosway but his miniatures are markedly different; although both artists were painting portraits on a similar scale, Cosway opted for a more virtuoso style of painting, which he executed with a lightness of touch. Smart, however, embraced a more de...