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Samuel Reading to Eli the Judgments of God Upon Eli's House By Joseph Smith, England, 1818 Pokerwork on wood panel, 28 in. by 21 in. (unframed) After the 1780 oil painting by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) Digital image thanks to Fran Inder

Samuel Reading to Eli the Judgments of God Upon Eli's House, detail of the table By Joseph Smith, England, 1818 Poker work on wood panel, 28 in. by 21 in. (unframed) After the 1780 oil painting by American artist John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) Digital image thanks to Fran Inder

Samuel Reading to Eli the Judgments of God Upon Eli's House Detail of the Signature and Date: Smith, Pyrographist, 1818 By Joseph Smith, England, 1818 Pokerwork on wood panel, 28 in. by 21 in. (unframed ) After the 1780 oil painting by American artist John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) Digital image thanks to Fran Inder

Samuel Reading to Eli the Judgments of God Upon Eli's House, partial view, close up By Joseph Smith, England, 1818 Poker work on wood panel, 28 in. by 21 in., unframed After the 1780 oil painting by American artist John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) Digital image thanks to Fran Inder

This exquisite panel was rendered by English artist Joseph Smith of Skipton Castle in 1818. When it was discovered in 2006 far from its place of origin at SOS in Vancouver, Canada, by art appraiser Fran Inder of that organization, who generously provided these pictures, it was the oldest piece from the early 19th Century that the E-Museum had seen or known of outside of a museum. Since then, a pair of works, dating from a decade earlier by this artist were discovered in England (two years before even the one in the museum). It is also of interest that subsequently a later work by Joseph Smith of the same title as this one has turned up.

There is an 1810 full-length portrait by Joseph Smith of John Jeffreys (after a painting by Hoppner) in the Pinto Collection. An article entitled The Pinto Collection: Important 19th C. Pyrographic Artists highlights research and notes by conservator Susan Millis on that collection, which is at the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery in England.

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If you have either any questions or any information regarding this Joseph Smith work or others by this artist, please e-mail the E-Museum Curator.