Skip to main content

Jonathan Munn: P.14797-R

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Jonathan Munn

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Baldrey, John
Draughtsman: Baldrey, Joshua Kirby (After)

Entities

Categories

Description

Stipple engraved oval medallion, half-length portrait of an elderly gentleman wearing a short, white powdered wig, a coat, waistcoat and white cravat. Head turned slightly towards the right, looking over the viewer's right shoulder. Sitter's identity, date and age at death are engraved below: 'Jonathan Munn / died Feby. 13, 1792, / Aged 78'. Production details at lower left and right: 'JK[in monogram]. Baldrey Pinxt / I.Baldrey Sculpt.'. An inscription in graphite at lower left: 'He was a tin-worker in Camb / see As[?]l Hist'. See Notes. A pendant to P.14798-R, which is a portrait by Joshua Kirby Baldrey of Mary Munn, whom, it is presumed, was the sitter's wife. Jonathan Munn was described as an 'ingenious tin-plate worker of Cambridge' in Brayley and Britton's _A Topographical and Historical Description of the County of Cambridge_ (p.40). In 1765, Munn helped Roger Long (1680-1770), astronomer and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, to build an early version of a planetarium in the grounds of Pembroke College. The structure was an 18ft-wide hollow sphere, made from copper, it's inner surface painted to represent the stars and constellations. The sphere could seat up to thirty people and could be spun around when a winch was operated. The structure was reported by Brayley and Britton to be in a woeful state of repair c. 1820 ('It is now very much damaged. Part of the sheathing is destroyed and the remainder is covered with rust and verdigrease [sic].'.) and it was dismantled some time after 1871.

Legal notes

Unknown

Acquisition and important dates

by unknown

Dating

18th Century
Production date: after AD 1792

Note

Height 180mm (plate) x width 130mm (plate); height 286mm (sheet) x width 214mm (sheet)

School or Style

British

Techniques used in production

Engraving
Stipple

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.14797-R
Primary reference Number: 225406
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Wednesday 5 September 2018 Updated: Wednesday 21 February 2024 Last processed: Wednesday 21 February 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Jonathan Munn" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/225406 Accessed: 2024-11-15 10:40:48

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/225406 |title=Jonathan Munn |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-15 10:40:48|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-225406

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...