A three-quarter-length portrait of Thomas Smith (1707–1762) wearing a coat with large decorations around the buttons. The sitter holds a telescope in his left hand and leans against a broken column with a distant view of ships in the background. Lettered beneath the image with the sitter’s coat of arms and the title: ‘Thomas Smith Esq. Vice Admiral of ye White, Commander in Chief of his Majesty’s Ships on the Coast of Scotland, Anno 1746.’ Also lettered with the production details and publication line: ‘R. Wilson pinxt. / J. Faber fecit. / Price 2s. Sold by Faber at the Golden Head in Bloomsbury Square.’ This portrait was engraved and published by John Faber the Younger after Richard Wilson’s oil painting of around 1744, which is now in the National Maritime Museum (see BHC3032). The inscription on the print refers to Smith’s service as commander-in-chief on the Coast of Scotland in 1746 but also describes him as vice-admiral of the white, which he became in May 1748. This suggests the print was not published before 1748. The plate was later altered to become a portrait of Edward Hawke (see PAF3452). (Updated May 2019.)