Beschreibung:

Andrew Plimer (British, 1763-1837) Portrait miniatures of Dr Thomas Monro (1759-1833) and his wife Hannah Monro (nee Woodcock), together with a portrait miniature of their eldest son Edward Thomas Monro by an unknown artist, circa 1795 Hannah Monro is signed "AP" lower left watercolour on ivory (3 framed as one) h:6 cm Provenance: From a Norfolk coutnry house Dr Thomas Monro (1759-1833) was a descendant of the Monros of Fyrish, a Scottish family which produced a line of prominent London doctors in the 18th and 19th century. Dr Thomas Monro was the youngest son of Dr John Monro (9th of Fyrish) and Elizabeth Culling Smith and succeeded his father as Principal Physician of the Bethlem Royal Hospital, where he acted as a consulting physician to George III during his second illness in 1811 and 1812. He took up the Principal position In 1792, but resigned in June 1816 as a result of scandal when he was accused of 'wanting in humanity' towards his patients. In 1788, Monro married Hannah Woodcock, daughter of Rev. Edward Woodcock, DD, the rector of Watford, whose portrait is featured in the present work, along with their eldest son Edward Thomas Monro (b. 1789), who later went on to inherit the family post of Principal Physician of the Bethlem Royal Hospital. Thomas and Hannah had three other children; Henry Monro (1791-1814), an artist whose portrait of his father is held at the National Portrait Gallery; Robert Monro (b.1799) and Alexander (b. 1802). Monro was also an artist, his landscape studies being influenced by his friend and artist, Thomas Gainsborough - he is listed as an 'exceptional' imitator of Gainsborough in John Hayes The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough 2 vols. (New Haven and London, 1971). He was a patron of numerous landscape artists, notably J. M. W. Turner and Thomas Girtin John Ruskin stated that Turner's "true master was Dr. Monro:- to the practical teaching of that first patron, and the wise simplicity of the method of water-colour study in which he was disciplined by him, and companioned by Girtin, the healthy and constant development of the youth's power is primarily attributed to" (John Ruskin Notes by Mr. Ruskin, Part I: On His Drawings by the Late J. M. W. Turner, R. A… (London, 1878), p5.) Dr Monro often hosted artists at his home in Adelphi Terrace, London, during the 1790's, which came to be known as the 'Monro Academy'; artists would copy the drawings of some of Monro's favourite artists such as Thomas Hearne and John Robert Cozen. Monro would often keep drawings from the 'Academy' in exchange for money or a meal, which contributed to his growing art collection. Part of his art collection was sold at Christie's, London, 18th June 1883, which included drawings by J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Girtin John Hoppner Old Masters such as Rembrandt and Boucher as well as Gainsborough's camera obscura. Estimate £5,000-6,000