The Honble Sr John Leake Kn. Late Rear Admiral of Great Britain... Lords Commissrs of the Admiralty

A three-quarter-length portrait of John Leake (1656–1720) in a velvet coat with embroidered button holes, holding a baton of command. Leake stands on a rocky seashore with a naval engagement in the background, representing his assault on the French batteries during the relief of Londonderry in 1689. Lettered beneath the image with the sitter’s coat of arms and the title: ‘The Hoble Sr John Leake Kn. Late Rear Admiral of Great Britain, Admiral & Commander in Chief of His Majties. Fleet and One of the Lord Commissrs. of the Admiralty.’ Also lettered with the production and publication details: ‘Sr G. Kneller Bart. pinx. 1712. / Iohn Faber Fecit 1722. / Done from the Painting in the Royal Palace of Kensington. / Sold be T. Bowles in St Pauls Church Yd. & J. Bowles at ye Black Horse in Cornhil.’ This portrait was engraved by John Faber the Younger and published by Thomas and John Bowles in 1722 after Godfrey Kneller’s earlier oil painting (see BHC2835), which was produced either in 1705 or (as suggested in the print’s inscription) in 1712. Kneller’s painting was one of a series of naval officers’ portraits commissioned by Queen Anne and her consort, Prince George of Denmark, which was given to the Naval Gallery at Greenwich in 1824 by George IV. Faber’s plate was later reworked as a portrait of Chaloner Ogle (see PAF3383). (Updated May 2019.)

Object Details

ID: PAF3317
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Faber, Johan; Kneller, Godfrey
Date made: 1722
People: Leake, John
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Mount: 363 mm x 252 mm