John Raphael Smith Auction Prices and Value Guide

John Raphael Smith auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 169 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

John Raphael Smith auction prices: quick answer

John Raphael Smith auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
John Raphael Smith
Source records
169
Market update
2026-02-16

John Raphael Smith market snapshot

John Raphael Smith shows solid auction liquidity with 94 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $320. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 7 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-10-30.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (72.3% · 47 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (24.6% · 16 sales)
  • $10,000+ (3.1% · 2 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$60
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
7
Median shift vs prior year
0.0%
Latest recorded sale
2025-10-30

Artist context

About John Raphael Smith

John Raphael Smith portrait
John Raphael Smith · Public domain · Source

Born

1752

Died

1812

Nationality

English

John Raphael Smith (1752–1812) was an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, publisher, and specialist in mezzotint engraving. His documented practice places him within the world of eighteenth-century British portraiture and reproductive printmaking, although the collected sources do not assign him to a named artistic movement. Collectors frequently encounter his name on mezzotints, including prints made after compositions by Joshua Reynolds and Joseph Wright of Derby. He also produced portraits and genre scenes associated with his own artistic practice. Because Smith worked both as an independent artist and as an interpreter of other artists' compositions, careful cataloguing should distinguish his role on each object: painter or designer, engraver, and sometimes publisher. Paintings and drawings may also bear his attribution, but the supplied market source does not establish how frequently those work types appear at auction. His established authority records help separate him from similarly named artists and support consistent entity matching across museum, library, and auction data.

Mezzotint engravingPaintingDrawingPortraitureGenre scenes

Common works and media

Works encountered under John Raphael Smith's name are principally mezzotint prints, including reproductive images after other British artists. Portraits and genre scenes are also documented subjects. His authority records identify him as both painter and printmaker, while another collected biography also records drawing and publishing activity. Attribution should state whether Smith created the underlying design, engraved another artist's composition, published the print, or performed more than one of those roles.

Market and appraisal context

Appraising a work associated with John Raphael Smith begins with identifying its type and his role in its production. A mezzotint after another artist's composition should not be catalogued in the same way as a portrait or genre subject based on Smith's own design. The sitter or subject, source artist, maker attribution, and distinction between print, drawing, and painting help determine which public auction records are genuinely comparable. Appraisily maintains an auction-price page for Smith, but the collected source pack contains no individual lot descriptions or realized-price data. It therefore supports a method for comparison, not a price prediction or market-trend claim.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Mezzotint prints
  • Paintings and drawings

Value drivers

  1. Correct classification as a mezzotint print, painting, or drawing
  2. Whether a print reproduces another artist's composition or derives from Smith's own portrait or genre design
  3. The identified sitter or subject and, for reproductive prints, the named source artist
  4. Comparable public auction records matched by attribution, work type, subject, sale date, and realized price

Appraisal caveats

  • The collected source pack does not include lot-level descriptions, realized prices, or a major auction-house biography.
  • Auction-category frequency cannot be established from the supplied records; paintings and drawings are included cautiously because they are documented parts of Smith's practice.
  • No price range, market trend, or scarcity conclusion should be inferred from the source pack alone.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context is based on collected public records: medium confidence, adequate source quality.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

Data basis

This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for John Raphael Smith

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is John Raphael Smith worth?

Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.

Can Appraisily value my John Raphael Smith artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.