Coke Smyth Explained

John Richard Coke Smyth (1808–1882) was a British artist and traveller. Smyth produced a few collections of prints from his travels. A few works arose out of a visit to Constantinople where he collaborated with the noted Orientalist painter John Frederick Lewis to produce several works on Turkey and Constantinople.

Life

His father was Richard Smyth and his mother was Elizabeth Coke. He traveled to Constantinople in 1856 and 1857.^[1]

In 1838, John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham accepted the post of Governor-General of British North America, and arrived in Quebec with his family and an entourage of about twenty people.

Several visual documents remain from this sojourn. These include works by Coke Smyth (1808-1882), whom Lord Durham had engaged to teach drawing to his family,^[2] by Lord Durham's daughter, Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, and by the amateur watercolorist, Katherine Ellice, (1814-1864), wife of Edward Ellice, secretary to the Governor."^[3]

After his return to England, Coke Smyth sketched the illustrations of the costumes that were used to make the prints for of the Bal Costume, given by H.M. Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace, May 12, 1842. The book commemorated a fancy ball given by Queen Victoria in 1842.^[4]

Publications

• 1808 – Scenes from Hamlet and All's Well.^[5]
• 1837 – Lewis's illustrations of Constantinople : made during a residence in that city etc. in the years 1835-6 : arranged and drawn on stone from the original sketches of Coke Smyth Istanbul : Denizler Kitabevi,, ^[6]
• 1839 – Sketches in the Canadas. [dedicated to the Earl of Durham]. London: Thos. McLean.^{[7] [8]}
• Undated – Prospectus and Specimen of a Proposed Work on the Costume of the Principal Nations of Europe: From the Beginning of the 15th to the End of the 17th Century. London.

In collaboration with John Frederick Lewis^[9]

• 1838 – Bursa, Turkey: the Street at the Entrance to the Grand Mosque. Lithograph by John .F. Lewis, After Coke Smythe. London: T. McLean et al.^[10]
• 1838 – Bursa, Turkey: the Silk Exchange. Lithograph by John F. Lewis, 1838, After Coke Smythe. London: T. McLean et al.^[11]
• 1838 – Tophane, Istanbul: the Ottoman Cannon Foundry. Lithograph by John .F. Lewis, 1838, After Coke Smythe. London: T. McLean et al.

In collaboration with James Planché^[12]

• 1843 – Souvenir of the Bal Costume: Given by Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, at Buckingham Palace, May 12, 1842; the Drawings from the Original Dresses. London: Colnaghi.^{[13] [14] [15]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Painting in Quebec, 1820-1850: New Views, New Perspectives. Béland. Mario. Québec. Musée du. 1992. Musée du Québec. 9782551129706. en.
2. Book: Guillet, Edwin C.. The Lives and Times of the Patriots: An Account of the Rebellion in Upper Canada, 1837-1838 and of the Patriot Agitation in the United States, 1837-1842. 1968-12-15. University of Toronto Press. 9781487598051. en.
3. CHAGNON, JOANNE. "Lady Mary Louise Elgin's sojourns in Lower Canada ." Journal of Canadian Art History, vol. 25, 2004, pp. 82–99.
4. Web site: Souvenir of the Bal Costume, given by H.M. Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace, May 12, 1842 . Royal Trust Collection . 17 February 2023.
5. Book: Smyth, Coke. Scenes from Hamlet and All's well. 1808. 658218010. English.
6. Book: The Literary Gazette and Journal of the Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c. 1837. W.A. Scripps. en.
7. Book: Sketches in the Canadas. By Coke Smyth. [Dedicated to the Earl of Durham|last=SMYTH|first=Coke|date=1839|publisher=Thos. McLean|location=London|oclc=556804665|language=English].
8. Book: The Westminster Review. Hooper. en.
9. Book: Smyth, Coke. Prospectus and specimen of a proposed work on the costume of the principal nations of Europe: from the beginning of the 15th to the end of the 17th century.. London. 913329199. English.
10. Book: Bursa, Turkey: the street at the entrance to the Grand Mosque. Lithograph by J.F. Lewis, 1838, after Coke Smythe.. Smyth. Coke. Lewis. John Frederick. 1838. T. McLean et al.. London. 927504802. English.
11. Book: Bursa, Turkey: the silk exchange. Lithograph by J.F. Lewis, 1838, after Coke Smythe.. Smyth. Coke. Lewis. John Frederick. 1838. T. McLean et al.. London. 927504674. English.
12. Book: Tophane, Istanbul: the Ottoman cannon foundry. Lithograph by J.F. Lewis, 1838, after Coke Smythe.. Smyth. Coke. Lewis. John Frederick. 1838. T. McLean et al.. London. 927504833. English.
13. Book: Souvenir of the bal costume: given by her most gracious majesty Queen Victoria, at Buckingham Palace, May 12, 1842 ; The drawings from the original dresses. Smyth. Coke. Planché. James Robinson. 1843. Colnaghi. London. 247834753. English.
14. Book: The Literary Gazette: A Weekly Journal of Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts. 1842. H. Colburn. en.
15. Book: The Edinburgh Review, Or Critical Journal. 1843. Longmans, Green & Company. en.