Portrait of Reverend Henry Tanner, Minister of the Gospel, Exeter, 1806

Portrait of the Reverend Henry Tanner, (c.1719-1805), a dissenting minister at Exeter, engraved from "an original painting in the possession of his son, Mr. Benjamin Tanner, Dartmouth," 1806. Where the original painting is now held, and who the artist was, is unknown.

The engraving depicts a middle-aged white male wearing a black dress coat and a white collar. He wears a white wig of the time period, looking to the left placed within an oval frame. The oval frame sits within a wider rectangle with a plaque underneath that reads ‘REVd HENRY TANNER Minister of the Gospel, EXETER’.

Henry Tanner was born in St Sidwells, Exeter, and remained in Devon throughout his life. Whilst he was working as a carpenter and shipbuilder in Plymouth, he was influenced by the preaching of Rev. George Whitfield, and in 1744 he returned to Exeter to become leader of a group of Methodists based in Rock Lane. In 1769 he built the Tabernacle Chapel in 1769, intending the building to serve as a modest place of worship in an impoverished area of the city. He also preached in various other Devon towns, including Crediton, Moretonhampstead and Topsham. He was never officially ordained, and throughout his life he continued to work as a carpenter, repairing several of the mills around the river Exe. The Devon & Exeter Institution also holds an edition of Henry Tanner's memoir, with a selection of his letters and extracts from his diary, published after his death in 1836 (S.W. Cupboard 1836 TAN).

Henry Tanner’s son, Benjamin (1767-1829), who owned the original portrait, seemed to follow in his father’s shipbuilding footsteps, building the British warship HMS Staunch, and several other vessels in Dartmouth. In 1810, five years after his father’s death, he was arrested for deception and forgery to the sum of twenty nine pounds and five shillings, but was found not guilty.

This portrait, published by John Suffield (1775-1833), was likely commissioned to commemorate Tanner’s death. Suffield was an engraver, printmaker and designer of lettering based in London, and the official Engraver to His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence. The enrgaver, Edward Scriven (1775-1841), trained in the stipple, chalk and etching manner, was one of the most prolific engravers of his generation, producing over 200 portraits in his lifetime. At the time that he completed this engraving of Tanner, he was the official engraver to the Prince of Wales (later King George IV). Portraits of Tanner are also held by the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, and South West Heritage Trust.

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