Richard Cosway

Miniaturist, born in Tiverton, Devon, SW England, UK. He studied with Thomas Hudson (1701–79) in London, and became a fashionable painter of portraits, patronized by the Prince of Wales. The use of watercolour on ivory is a notable feature of his work. In 1781 he married the artist Maria Hadfield (1759–1838), also a miniaturist.

Richard Cosway (5 November 1742 – 4 July 1821) was a leading English portrait painter—more accurately a miniaturist—of the Regency era. Such was his success, that still not 30, Cosway was elected one of the founder members of the Royal Academy (he is included in a group portrait of the 1768 founders, though some accounts suggest he was appointed an Academician three years later, in 1771).

He painted King George IV in 1780 and was appointed Painter to the Prince of Wales in 1785—the only time this title was ever awarded. His subjects included the Prince's first wife, Maria Anne Fitzherbert, and various English and French aristocrats, including Madame du Barry, mistress of King Louis XV of France.

Cosway's pupils included Andrew Plimer (1763-1837).

On 18 January 1781, Cosway married talented Anglo-Italian artist Maria Hadfield (also a composer, musician and authority on girls' education, and much admired by Thomas Jefferson). In 1784 the Cosways moved into Schomberg House, Pall Mall, which became a fashionable salon for London society.