_ENGRAVING IN ENGLAND_--INTRODUCTION OF METAL ENGRAVING--NOTABLE
BRITISH ENGRAVERS--SUMMARY
"When applied to objects of their proper destination, the arts
are capable of extending our intellect, of supplying new ideas,
and of presenting to us a view of times and places, whatever
their interval or difference."--Dallaway.
Engraving as a decorative art was well advanced in this country during
the reign of Alfred the Great, when the Anglo-Saxon metal-workers were
known to be skilful engravers. The art was still further developed under
the Norman rule, and during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Wood engravings were printed by William Caxton in 1481, but there is no
proof that they were the work of English engravers.
=Introduction of Metal Engraving.=--The exact date of the introduction
into England of metal engraving as a reproductive art is doubtful.
There is a record of a book published in this country in 1545, which
was illustrated with copper engravings, cut by Thomas Gemeni. It was a
work on anatomy by Vesalius, and was at first printed in Latin. In the
preface to a translation of this work the following quaint note appears:
"Accepte, jentill reader, this Tractise of Anatomie, thankfully
interpreting the labours of Thomas Gemeni the workman. He that with
his great charge, watch and travayle, hath set out the figures in
pourtrature will most willingly be amended, or better perfected of his
own workmanship if admonished."
It was probably not until Queen Elizabeth's reign was well advanced that
metal engraving obtained any substantial recognition as a fine art which
might be practised with some hope of commercial success.
Archbishop Parker, a powerful prelate of this time, extended his
patronage to the art, and for a time, at least, kept a private staff
of engravers. A portrait of this archbishop was executed by Remigus
Hogenberg, and is the first record of an engraved portrait produced
and printed in England.
For about a century the work of English engravers was uninteresting, and
almost devoid of artistic feeling. Their pictures possessed but little
merit, either as works of art or as pictorial records of that eminently
progressive period.
During the seventeenth century engraving became intimately associated
with literature, and then, as now, the combination was a felicitous one.
Another fortunate circumstance was the settling of the Passe family in
this country. They came from Utrecht, and were engravers of considerable
skill and repute. The elder Passe was a friend and admirer of the famous
painter Reubens, whose style he, to some extent, copied.
John Payne--the first English artist to distinguish himself with the
graver--was a pupil of Passe. Payne was an undoubted genius, and, but
for his indolence and dissipated habits, might have accomplished a
great work.
His most noteworthy engraving was a picture of "The Royal Sovereign,"
made on two plates, which, when joined together, measured 36 in. x 26
in.
Vertue succeeded Payne. His engravings were chiefly of historical value;
as works of art they displayed no unusual merit. Many were portraits
of personages of high degree, in which Vertue evidently copied the
style of Houbraken, a Dutch artist, who some time previously engraved a
similar series of portraits, the commission being given to him because
"_no English engraver was capable of executing it_."
Vertue's writings on English Art were profuse and thoughtful. They were
afterwards collected and published by Horace Walpole.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.--Old Wood Engraving.
"Horace Walpole, the historian of the graphic arts."
_Block supplied by the London Electrotype Agency Ltd., from the
"Illustrated London News."_]
Hogarth, "The inimitable Hogarth,"
"Whose pictured morals charm the eye,
And through the eye correct the heart,"
was a brilliant exponent of the expressive power of the engraver's art.
Possessing a profound knowledge of human nature, and a keen sense of all
that is humanely interesting, he expressed in his pictures a wonderful
creative fancy, and a well directed humour. He almost invariably
represented character rather than scenes, and while displaying immense
fertility of design, he retained sufficient realism in the composition
of his pictures to render them valuable as records of the manners and
customs of his times. They, moreover, describe their incidents in the
most direct and piquant fashion. His somewhat defective drawing was
redeemed by a wealth of suggestion and an endless variety of grotesque
conceptions. He possessed the happy art of seizing a fleeting impression
from which he would evolve a caricature full of peculiar and quaint
humour. Hogarth's place in the art annals of this country is undoubtedly
assured, for it has been said that he _represented_ his characters
with more force than most men could _see_ them. His career may be
dated from 1724, when he produced the illustrations for _Hudibras_ and
_La Mortray's Travels_.
There is a most extraordinary story related in connection with Hogarth's
last engraving. While spending a merry evening with some friends he was
heard to say: "My next undertaking will be _the end of all things_."
"If that is so," remarked one of his companions, "there will soon be
an end of the artist." "Yes, there will be," Hogarth replied, "and the
sooner my task is finished the better." The engraving was executed under
the impulse of an intense excitement. "Finis," he exclaimed, as he
finished that most remarkable design, "All is now over," and, strange
to relate, this was actually his last work, for he died about a month
later.
Robert Strange, who was contemporary with Hogarth, was a native of the
Orkney Islands. He was an art student in Edinburgh when Prince Charlie
landed, and his Jacobite sympathies led him to throw aside his work
and join the young chevalier. When the remnant of the army of 1745
was flying before Duke William after the battle of Culloden, Strange,
closely pursued by a number of soldiers, sought shelter in the house
of the Lumsdales. Miss Lumsdale was sitting with her work by one of the
windows, and at once offered to conceal the young soldier underneath
the folds of her skirt. Ladies' skirts of the crinoline period were of
such proportions as to render the concealment easy, and Miss Lumsdale,
to lull the suspicions of the pursuing soldiers, continued her sewing,
and affected considerable surprise and indignation at their intrusion.
They shamefacedly withdrew upon finding the lady alone, and Strange
afterwards made good his escape to France. Gratitude to his deliverer,
intensified by the romantic situation which saved his life, quickly
ripened into love, and, it is needless to add, a good old-fashioned
love match.
Strange settled in London about 1750, when, by his zeal and skilful
work, he added much to the fame of historical engraving in this country.
He engraved over eighty plates during his lifetime, and displayed a
literary talent of no mean order. He was not a brilliant draughtsman,
but the tone and texture of his engravings are almost perfect.
He was knighted in 1781.
There is yet one other engraver of this period whose career merits
a share of attention and interest.
James Gilray was born in 1757, and, like Hogarth, commenced at the
bottom rung of the ladder as a letter engraver. He also became a notable
caricaturist, and some idea of his skill in this branch of pictorial art
may be gleaned from the fact that over 1200 designs were the product
of his inventive fancy. Though not by any means indolent, his habits
were dissipated, and unfortunately for him he, for many years, resided
with his publisher, who gratified his passions so long as his art was
sufficiently productive. Gilray's designs were not all caricatures. A
number of illustrations for Goldsmith's _Deserted Village_ were designed
and engraved by him. He also engraved a few of Northcote's pictures.
His style was free and spirited, and he was one of the first English
engravers to prove the merits of stipple engraving.
The stipple manner of engraving was a curious development of the
art. It appeared as though line engraving could not keep pace with
the ever-growing demand for pictures, and was therefore combined with
stipple to facilitate production. In capable hands very fine results
were obtained with this combination.
English engraving was still in its infancy, however, and continental
productions were favoured by the art patrons of this country, until
a stimulus was given to native art by the painters Reynolds, Wilson, and
West. Profiting by this renewed interest, Woollet entered upon a career
of unqualified success, and eventually succeeded in obtaining full
recognition for the merits of English engraving.
As a boy Woollet showed his artistic proclivities in a strange manner.
His father, it is stated, won a L5000 prize in a lottery, and bought
an inn, glorying in the name of "The Turk's Head," a title which the
embryonic artist endeavoured to express pictorially on a pewter pot.
The father, struck by some quality in the drawing, apprenticed young
Woollet to an obscure London engraver. From an artistic point of view
this apprenticeship was of little value. Woollet was a born artist, and
although his early training may have intensified the natural bent of his
genius, it did little to cultivate it. He possessed versatile talents.
His historical pictures were, in every respect, equal to his landscapes,
and these will long remain as lasting and convincing monuments of his
skill. The boldness of contrast and accuracy of execution displayed by
Woollet in his landscape engravings far surpassed all previous efforts
to express pictorial effects with the graver.
Raimbach was a miniature painter of some note, who, like many other
artists, turned from creative to reproductive art, and became a
successful engraver. In 1812 he became associated with David Wilkie,
and it is generally supposed that he was retained by that artist for the
reproduction of his pictures. Raimbach's translations of Wilkie's works
were in every sense artistic productions and faithful representations.
He was said to be so careful and conscientious in his work that he
employed no assistants, but this was not entirely true. Careful and
conscientious he undoubtedly was, but he frequently employed assistants
to engrave the less important parts of his commissions. Raimbach was
born in 1776, and died 1843.
F. C. Lewis was a progressive engraver contemporary with Raimbach.
His most notable productions were after Landseer and Lawrence. He was
appointed engraver first to George IV., then William IV., and afterwards
to Queen Victoria.
Samuel Cousins was another most influential engraver. A brief sketch
of his artistic career is given in another chapter.
C. G. Lewis was both a line and mezzotint engraver. He was probably
Landseer's favourite engraver, and his name is best known in association
with that artist's pictures. Born 1808; died 1880.
When John Pye engraved his first Turner picture, "Pope's Villa," in
1811, that famous artist expressed his unqualified approval when he
said, "If I had known there was anyone in this country who could have
done that, I would have had it done before," and on more than one
occasion he mentioned Pye's engravings as "the most satisfactory
translations of my colour into black and white." An adequate
interpretation of Turner's pictures requires a masterly appreciation of
the gradations and balance of tone which suggest both colour and space;
and to merit such expressions of satisfaction from the great artist
himself was proof of John Pye's artistic power and skill.
He began his career as an engraver about the year 1800 after a short
apprenticeship with James Heath, a clever and practical man, who was
quick to perceive the ability of his apprentice.
John Pye was a recognised authority on the pictorial effect of colour,
and it was said that during his long and eminently useful life "no
engraver did more than he to spread a knowledge of the sound principles
of landscape art." He was frequently consulted by his fellow artists,
and without even a suggestion of professional jealousy, he was ever
ready with his advice and, if need be, practical help. The following
copy of a letter--now in the Swansea Art Gallery--gives some idea of
the esteem in which his opinion was held by contemporary artists:--
_Monday._
_To J. Pye, Esq._
Thursday night, at half-past five, if you please. I hope that
day will be convenient to you. I should like, if possible, to
see you here by daylight, as your opinion is always valuable
to me, and I have some few things to show you.--Your faithful
servant,
Ed. Landseer.
Pye was long known in art circles as the "Father of landscape engraving,"
and he certainly succeeded, as no other engraver has done, in his
translation of colour values and suggestion of aerial perspectives.
Turner's paintings were his favourite subjects, and his interpretations
of them are brilliant in expression, and charged with the very essence
of artistic feeling.
His life and work indicated a progress as distinct as it was far
reaching.
"And still the work went on,
And on, and on, and is not yet completed.
The generation that succeeds our own
Perhaps may finish it."
It has been through the efforts of these men and others who, though
less influential, were not less skilful perhaps, or less earnest,
that English engraving, in its daring innovations and substantial
improvements, has far outstripped that of other countries. By them
its reputation has been built up and enhanced, so that "its influence
is conspicuously visible in the principles and history of Art."