(b ?Germany, c. 1697; d Norwich, 1756). Painter and engraver, probably of German birth, but active in Great Britain. He settled in Norwich and by 1720 was working on a series of portraits of members of prominent local families. In 1732 he was commissioned to execute portraits of local civic dignitaries (Norwich, St Andrew’s Hall). While most of his portraits of adults are stolid and bourgeois, those of children are more engaging. Many of his finer works were commissioned by the Astley family of Melton Constable; they include Musical Party (1734; Astley priv. col.) and the children Edward and Blanche Astley (1732; sold London, Christie’s, 10 Dec 1985; lot 100). Heins also depicted allegorical and historical subjects and candle-light scenes, and he produced genre pieces such as two Scenes from the Life of Thomas Guy (London, Sotheby’s, 18 Nov 1981; lot 59). He engraved a few inferior mezzotints. His son John Theodore Heins the younger (1732/3–71) was also a portrait painter but had more success as a miniaturist and, particularly, as a topographical etcher.