Title: Portrait of John Johnson

Height 8 cm, width 6.5 cm
Watercolour on vellum
William Blake
Provenance: John Johnson; purchased from Bonhams 2006
Museum No. OLNCN.3935

Executed by William Blake (1757-1827) in January 1802, during Johnson's visit to William Hayley's (1745-1820) home at Felpham in Sussex. Hayley was Blake's patron and Cowper's first biographer.

Rev. John Johnson (1769-1833) - 'Johnny of Norfolk' - was the son of John Johnson, a tanner from Ludham, Norfolk and Anne Donne (b.1748). He was related to Cowper through his mother who was the daughter of Harriot and Roger Donne who was the brother of Cowper's mother.

For 27 years Cowper had no contact with his maternal relatives until Johnson (at the time a student at Cambridge) introduced himself to him during the Christmas holidays.

Cowper formed an affection for 'the wild but bashful boy' which was reciprocated. During his later years he was cared for by Johnson and died at his house in the Market Place, East Dereham on 25 April 1800.

Johnson edited a number of Cowper's works including: Cowper's Poems (1815), The Letters of Wm. Cowper (3 vols, 1817) and The Private correspondence of Wm Cowper with several of his most intimate friends, now first published from the originals in the possession of (and edited by) John Johnson (2 vols. 1824).