Reynolds' studio materials

Appointment Book kept by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), 1755

We know a great deal about the making of Reynolds’ portraits thanks to his detailed appointment books. 28 of them still survive today. 27 of them are in the Royal Academy archive. The earliest surviving one, which dates from 1755 is in our Cottonian Collection. It records no less than 120 people who sat for Reynolds that year. The books show that Reynolds kept regular appointments between 10am and 3pm. These appointments could have involved discussing the commission or sitting for a portrait. They also contain some social appointments and a few record-keeping notes.

Many hands make light work

Some of the works in the Reframing Reynolds exhibition serve as a reminder that an artwork is often the product of many hands. Among Reynolds’ bustling household were students, family members, assistants and servants who all contributed to the making of his portraits. Reynolds also hired other painters who specialised in drapery or landscapes to paint clothing or backgrounds.

It’s likely that Reynolds would have hired a specialist maritime painter to paint the dramatic background of a shipwreck in his portrait of Augustus Keppel. Likewise, we know that Peter Toms (active 1748-1777) assisted with the draperies of Elizabeth Keppel’s ornate dress in the grand portrait shown below. Reynolds’ students, assistants and his niece, Theophila, would also lend their hands to preparing and finishing paintings.

The more experiments you make the better

Thanks to a private lender we’ve been able to display a variety of materials from Reynolds’ studio in the Reframing Reynolds exhibition. We’re also showing a paint palette and sticks from our Cottonian Collection.

The mahogany paint box would have been used to store bottles of pigments and tools and this one contains 43 different pigments. Reynolds would sometimes use paint sticks and the ends of brushes to scratch the paint while it was still wet to add details and texture. You can also see a mahl stick – a tool which is held in the same hand as a paintbrush to help keep the hand steady while painting – and 15 different paint brushes.

Reynolds layered his canvases oil paint and glazes created from pigments mixed with varnish, and our display also includes a muller. This small glass tool that would have been used to mix these different components that Reynolds experiments with together.

Catch the Reframing Reynolds: A Celebration exhibition before it closes at the end of Sunday 29 October. Exhibition opening hours are 10am-5pm Tuesday-Sunday. Admission is free and there's no need to book.

Portrait image credits
Captain the Honourable Augustus Keppel, 1725-86 by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Copyright National Maritime Museum, London. Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Keppel as a Bridesmaid, 1761 by Sir Joshua Reynolds. From the Woburn Abbey Collection.