Spilsbury practised chiefly in
mezzotint, and between 1759 and 1789 produced many plates, mainly portraits, which included: after
John Riley, by Jonathan Spilsbury. •
Richard Baxter; •
John Bunyan, after Thomas Sadler; •
Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, after
William Hoare; • Miss Jacob, and
Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle, after
Joshua Reynolds; •
Inigo Jones, after
Anthony van Dyck; •
John Wesley, after
George Romney; and • George III and Queen Charlotte, from his own drawings. He also engraved subject-pieces after
Murillo,
Rembrandt,
Rubens,
Metzu,
Angelica Kauffman, and others For his print of Miss Jacob, Spilsbury was awarded a premium by the
Society of Arts in 1761, and for that of the Earl of Carlisle another in 1763. He exhibited original portraits and biblical compositions with the
Society of Artists of Great Britain in 1763, 1770, and 1771, and at the
Royal Academy from 1776 to 1784. He contributed a picture of
The Widow of Zarepta to the
British Institution in 1807. ==References==