Looking Closely: The Etchings of John Kay
By Brynn Gordon
The caricature has long been one of the most utilised subsets of the portraiture genre, as politicians, celebrities, and public figures have always elicited humour and ridicule by their very nature as public. Despite the feeling that in the time before our current culture of social media and celebrity, public discourse was more respectful, one only needs to look as far as John Kay to see it was not so.
Kay, born in 1742 in Dalkeith in Midlothian, was a prominent portraitist and caricaturist of the Scottish Enlightenment, often blurring where one ended and the other began. Coming to Edinburgh in 1762 as a young barber, Kay did not begin his artistic career until his forties. After his wife’s death in 1784, Kay left the profession to record in etching the philosophical, civic, and political drama unfolding in Edinburgh at this time.
Scotland in the 18th century was experiencing an explosion in medical, scientific, and sociological fields, comprising the “Scottish Enlightenment,” becoming a leading light in Europe in these schools of thought. As Adam Smith was developing foundational economic theories such as the “Hand of the Market,” the first Encyclopaedia Britannica was published in Edinburgh, and Robert Burns penned radical poetry in Scots and reintroduced the language to the literary world.
At the centre of this intellectual explosion was Edinburgh. The so-called “Athens of the North” presented much scope for intriguing and eccentric public figures and character types for Kay to record in his new career. From 1785 to his death in 1826, he produced over 900 etchings and sketches giving insight into the contemporary perception of celebrity figures and the public, a few of which will be highlighted below.
John Kay, James Lapslie, 1793, etching, 16.3 cm x 10 cm, NPG D16507, The National Portrait Gallery
Here we can see Kay’s depiction of Clergyman James Lapslie, standing on a Bible with the quote from Revelations, “And the world wondered after the beast,” speaking to the story regarding the healing of a wounded animal, while reading a book surrounded by bees. This depiction of Lapslie as having his head in the clouds (specifically a cloud of bees), ignoring the Bible he stands on in favour of his smaller book, one he published himself on beekeeping, is underscored by his gormless expression and truncated form. Kay here likely refers to Lapslie’s role in the persecution of Thomas Muir, a leading political figure charged with sedition. Part of the trial hinged on the withholding of Muir’s government pension despite years of service, perhaps explaining the inscription of “pension hunter”. Lapslie’s division of attention is revealed to be the source of both his downfall in real life and the stumbling block of his image as a man of God in Kay’s work.
John Kay, The Lawyer; The Client, 1790, etching, 8.5 cm x 6.7 cm, NPG D18654, National Portrait Gallery
Survived by his second wife, Kay was described as willing to 'quit his lucrative employment in miniature drawing in order to commit some freak of his fancy to copper, for which, perhaps, no profit was to be hoped for.'. This willingness to indulge his humorous voice can be observed in the above work, providing viewers with an interactive optical illusion that pokes fun at the corruption within the justice system of the time through a simple change in perspective.
John Kay, John Kay, 1786, etching and aquatint, 11.1 cm x 9.8 cm, NPG D4970, National Gallery
To end, we can examine Kay’s self-portrait at the dawn of his career, revealing very little of his characteristic humour but much about the enlightenment atmosphere within Edinburgh at the time. Far from the comedic scribbler working in what was essentially Warhol’s Pop Art Factory for the time, Kay positions himself as a perceptive and distinguished observer.
Looked on by his favourite black cat and looking towards a bust of Homer (who in turn intensely meets the viewer’s gaze), Kay here has just put down his book and seems about to pick up his prominently featured art supplies to capture a moment of inspiration, or perhaps another “freak of his fancy.”.
In this image, Kay the learnt, well-dressed gentleman reveals in a moment of reverie his most important strength as an artist: his ability to observe and creatively depict the essence of the people and characters he saw. While he may not be remembered alongside Homer, his individual vision may certainly provide entertainment and information to viewers and historians for just as long, provided that they too are willing to look closely.
Bibliography
Britishmuseum.org. “Collections Online | British Museum.” British Museum, 2025. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG189858.
MacDonald, Alistair. “Scottish Enlightenment | British Council.” Britishcouncil.org, 2016. https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/scottish-enlightenment.
Museums and Galleries Edinburgh. “John Kay: Recording the Golden Age in Edinburgh,” January 31, 2024. https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/john-kay-recording-golden-age-edinburgh.
National Library of Scotland. “National Library of Scotland.” NLS, 2025. https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/scottish-enlightenment/john-kay-engravings/.
Npg.org.uk. “John Kay - National Portrait Gallery,” 2015. https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw35002/John-Kay?set=174%3BJohn+Kay+etchings&wPage=2&search=ap&rNo=48.
Tregoning, Andrew. “Thomas Muir of Huntershill.” www.advocates.org.uk, n.d. https://www.advocates.org.uk/faculty-of-advocates/history-of-faculty/thomas-muir-of-huntershill.