Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Foldsone, John
FOLDSONE, JOHN (d. 1784?), painter, obtained some note as a painter of small portraits, which he executed with great rapidity. He used to attend his sitters at their dwellings in the morning, dine with them if they lived at a distance, and finish his work before evening. His portraits, though naturally of no great merit, had sufficient likeness to gain him employment. Two portraits by him of Miss Elizabeth Haffey, a child, and her brother, John Burges Haffey, were engraved in mezzotint by Robert Laurie, and a picture by him, entitled ‘Female Lucubration,’ was similarly engraved by P. Dawe. Foldsone exhibited first at the Society of Artists in 1769 and 1770, and afterwards at the Royal Academy from 1771 to 1783, shortly after which date he died. He painted madonnas, mythology, history, and portraits, but his artistic productions seem to have been indifferent and on a par with his general character. He left a wife and family; his eldest daughter, Sarah, attained some note as a miniature-painter [see Mee, Sarah].
[Edwards's Anecdotes of Painters; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760–1880; Chaloner Smith's British Mezzotinto Portraits; Royal Academy Catalogues.]