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Pack, and Ogle, I can tell you nothing—of each it may be said, ‘“‘stat 
nominis umbra.” It is equally exasperating when one finds a 
miniature such as the one on the table signed, “ Browning, Bath,” 
of the artist of which one can trace nothing (the portrait is of 
the early years of this century, and belongs to Mr. W. H. 
Stephens, of Clifton): and another aggravating instance is that 
of Sir Walter Scott, who came to Bath as a boy in 1777, and had 
his miniature painted. This is engraved as a frontispiece to his 
life, but there is no record of the artist’s name, and as there were 
several capable miniaturists in Bath about this date, guess work is 
quite unprofitable. 
To Mr. J. S. Bartrum I am indebted for the miniature by 
Lacon which is on the table. I had a note of the existence of 
this artist, but scarcely expected ever to find any of his work, till 
I was shown, quite by chance, this portrait of a member of the 
Ford family. The artist appears to have combined miniature 
painting with the keeping of a puppet show; it may perhaps 
be concluded that he also modelled portraits in wax. 
Of the work of John Beauvais, who practised in Bath, I have 
not been able to trace any example. It is recorded of him in 
the life of Nollekens, that though noted for his dirty person he 
regularly presented himself at court. The two miniatures by 
John Hodges Benwell, that are lent by Mr. Thos, Harding, are 
of great interest, as his work is very uncommon; for born in 
1764, the son of the under steward to the Duke of Marlborough, 
he died at the age of twenty-one in 1785. Had he lived he 
would probably have gained great reputation, even as it is several 
of his works have been engraved by Sharp, Bartolozzi, and others. 
He was the pupil of an obscure portrait: painter named Saunders 
(there were many of the name, and I cannot say whether this. 
was the artist who is mentioned in the New Bath Guide at the 
end of the last century) and also studied at the Royal Academy 
schools, where in 1782 he gained a silver medal. He then fora 
time taught drawing and painted miniatures in Bath, among others 
