SAMUEL SHELLEY (BRITISH 1750/56-1808) Portrait miniature of the Rev'd James Rusell Deare, chaplain to King George III, wearing dark blue coat, white waistcoat and tied cravat Signed on the reverse Painted by / Sam. Shelley / George Street Hannover Square / altered and repainted / 1807 Watercolour on ivory Gilt-mounted rectangular papier-mâché frame Oval, 95mm (3 3/4in) high Exhibited: Comerford Collection at the Irish Architectural Archives, Dublin, 2009 Literature: The Comerford Collection: Portrait Miniatures, (privately published, Dublin, 2009); pp 10, 53 (#224) Reverend Deare was the Rector of Bures in Suffolk in 1798. Early in 1800 he was elected to be one of King George II's chaplains. His will, dated 30th March 1825, is housed in the National Archives at Kew. In 1804 Shelley joined with W.F. Wells, Robert Hills, W.H. Pyne, and six other artists to found the Watercolour Society (afterwards known as the "Old Society"), of which he was treasurer until 1807. As Shelley died in 1808, this would appear to be one of his later works.