Patrick Quin (c. 1745 - early 19th century)

There is an engraved portrait of Quin. It is titled “Patrick Quin Harper to the Irish harp Society”, and attributed “Miss Trotter Pinx^t” and “Brocas Sculp^t”, i.e. engraved by Brocas, copying a painting by Miss Trotter. Brocas was a well-known engraver who also did portraits of Denis O'Hampsey. It seems to me that Quin's face is well-drawn but the harp and landscape are more generic.

There is a very sweet watercolour portrait which looks to be of the same man, in the Ulster Museum in Belfast¹. It shows him sitting quite low, with his right leg stretched out in front of him; he is holding the Otway harp. His clothes and hairstyle show he is quite a stylish and well-dressed man in my opinion.

You can view the watercolour online at the National Museum Northern Ireland picture gallery. I used to assume that this watercolour was the original of the engraved portrait, but now I am not so sure. Watch this space for more research coming out soon...

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References

1. Brian Audley, ‘A newly discovered portrait of Patrick Quin, the harper, c. 1745 - 1812’ in Treoir (Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann), Vol 26 No. 4, 1994 ^