Richard Yeo RA (ca. 1720 - 1779)

Richard Yeo RA (ca. 1720 - 1779)

RA Collection: People and Organisations

Little is known about the early life and training of the coin- and medal- engraver Richard Yeo.

From 1737 he produced silver season tickets for entry to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, bearing images symbolising the arts and the entertainments associated with the gardens. Other notable works include the official medal commemorating the Duke of Cumberland’s victory at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the medal for the Academy of Ancient Music in 1750, and the Chancellor’s Medal for Oxford University in 1752.

In 1749 Yeo began a life-long career at the Royal Mint working as an engraver. As the eyesight of the chief engraver John Sigismund Tanner (1705 - 1775) deteriorated from around 1760, Yeo’s work became increasingly important. On Tanner’s death in 1775, Yeo became chief engraver. Some of his patterns for coins are now in the Collection of the British Museum.

Yeo exhibited with the Society of Artists from 1760, becoming a director of the society in 1765. In 1768 he resigned from the Society to become a Founder Member of the newly-formed Royal Academy. Yeo was one of few early Academicians who were not painters or sculptors.

Yeo exhibited works in plaster, sealing wax and gold in the first two Royal Academy exhibitions, although much of his time was occupied with duties for the Royal Mint. Yeo occupies a prominent position in Johann Zoffany’s The Portraits of the Academicians of the Royal Academy (1771-2), where he is seen examining the life model in the centre. This suggests that he held considerable authority, at least within the Royal Academy Schools.