Henry Chichele, founder of All Souls College, Oxford thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 120, Lee Priory Room

Henry Chichele, founder of All Souls College, Oxford

Print
1772-1773 (drawn), 1773-1780 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This print was made in 1772 and its frame was added slightly later. The print combines two techniques - etching and engraving. Both involved creating a pattern of grooves to hold ink in a metal printing plate. The etched lines were made using acid, while the engraved lines were scored by means of a sharp tool called a burin. The grooves were then filled with ink and the image was transferred onto a blank sheet of paper.

Subjects Depicted
In 1438 Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury co-founded All Souls College at Oxford. Francesco Bartolozzi based this depiction of Chichele on an 18th-century drawing, which in turn recorded a stained glass window at the College.

Ownership & Use
This print and its pair (museum no. W.98:1-2-1978) are thought to have originally belonged to the writer and collector Horace Walpole (1717-97) and to have hung in his Gothic-revival house at Strawberry Hill, near Twickenham in Middlesex. The style of the frame, with an inner Gothic arch and stylised flowers in the upper corners, would have fitted in well with the house's decoration. Both were sold in 1842, when the house contents were auctioned. After this the prints were for some time at Brookhill Hall in Nottinghamshire, before being spotted by a curator in an antique shop near the V&A, when they were bought by the Museum.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Print
  • Frame
TitleHenry Chichele, founder of All Souls College, Oxford (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Print, entitled 'Henry Chychelle ffundator'. Drawn by John Taylor in 1771-1772 from an ancient window in All Souls College. Engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi
Physical description
Print: etching and engraving depicting Henry Chichele, in an ebonised gilt frame
Dimensions
  • Height: 61cm
  • Width: 38cm
Gallery label
  • ENGRAVING ENGLISH; 1771 Entitled 'Henry Chychelle ffundator. Drawn by John Taylor 1771 from an ancient window in All Souls College. Engraved by F. Bartolozzi'. In contemporary ebonised and gilt frame.(pre October 2000)
  • British Galleries: PAIR OF FRAMED ENGRAVINGS, from Horace Walpole's collection
    Horace Walpole owned copies of these two engravings and possibly these very ones. They were listed amongst the contents of Strawberry Hill when it was sold in 1842. The engravings are based on stained glass windows at All Souls College, Oxford, showing the founder, Archbishop Henry Chicheley (died 1443) and the patron, Henry VI (1421-1472).(27/03/2003)
Object history
Drawn by John Taylor (born in London 1739, died there in 1838); engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi (born in Florence, Italy, 1721, died in Lisbon, 1815).

Sold in the auction of the contents of Strawberry Hill, 1842.
Summary
Object Type
This print was made in 1772 and its frame was added slightly later. The print combines two techniques - etching and engraving. Both involved creating a pattern of grooves to hold ink in a metal printing plate. The etched lines were made using acid, while the engraved lines were scored by means of a sharp tool called a burin. The grooves were then filled with ink and the image was transferred onto a blank sheet of paper.

Subjects Depicted
In 1438 Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury co-founded All Souls College at Oxford. Francesco Bartolozzi based this depiction of Chichele on an 18th-century drawing, which in turn recorded a stained glass window at the College.

Ownership & Use
This print and its pair (museum no. W.98:1-2-1978) are thought to have originally belonged to the writer and collector Horace Walpole (1717-97) and to have hung in his Gothic-revival house at Strawberry Hill, near Twickenham in Middlesex. The style of the frame, with an inner Gothic arch and stylised flowers in the upper corners, would have fitted in well with the house's decoration. Both were sold in 1842, when the house contents were auctioned. After this the prints were for some time at Brookhill Hall in Nottinghamshire, before being spotted by a curator in an antique shop near the V&A, when they were bought by the Museum.
Collection
Accession number
W.97:1, 2-1978

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Record createdApril 2, 2001
Record URL
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