Robert Dunkarton, engraver and portrait painter, served his apprenticeship with mezzotint engraver William Pether. Initially producing portraits in oils and crayons, he exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Society of Artists from 1774 until 1779. Henceforth he concentrated on printmaking, producing portraits, old master paintings, landscapes, and botanical subjects. Between 1770 and 1811, he produced some forty-five mezzotint portraits, many on a large scale. One of his last commissions was from JMW Turner, for whom he provided the mezzotint ground for five of the plates in the Liber Studiorum
(1811-1812). The National Portrait Gallery, London, has scores of his prints.
Updated 2012
