John Cawse

He was born on 25 December 1778, the son of Charles Woodruffe Cawse and his wife Mary, of Little Prescott Street, Whitechapel.

[1] He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1802,[3] showing mostly portraits, but also some paintings of horses and, from the early 1830s, a few historical pictures.

[4] Between 1807 and 1845 he exhibited at the British Institution, predominantly showing literary and historical subjects, including scenes from the works of Shakespeare and Walter Scott.

[7] He is best remembered for his book The Art of Painting Portraits, Landscapes, Animals, Draperies, &c., in oil colours, published in 1840.

[3] He was an amateur musician who, unusually for the time, played the antiquated viola da gamba (i.e. the bass viol);[8] an instrument he once owned is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.