NATHANIEL

HONE (1718-1784)  , British painter, was the son of a merchant at Dublin, and without any regular training acquired in his youth much skill as a portrait-painter . Early in his career he left Dublin for England and worked first in various provincial towns, but ultimately settled in London, where he soon made a considerable reputation . His oil-paintings were decidedly popular, but he gained his chief success by his miniatures and enamels, which he executed with masterly capacity . He became a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists and afterwards a foundation member of the Royal Academy; but he had several disagreements with his fellow-members of that institution, and on one occasion they rejected two of his pictures, one of which was regarded as a satire on Reynolds and the other on Angelica Kauffman . Most of his contributions to the Academy exhibitions were portraits . The quality of his work varied greatly, but the merit of his miniatures and enamels entitles him to a place among the ablest artists of the British school . He executed also a few mezzo-tint plates of reasonable importance, and some etchings . His portrait, painted by himself two years before his death, is in the possession of the Royal Academy .