Writing Masters of London
Print
ca. 1732 (engraved), 1732 (published)
ca. 1732 (engraved), 1732 (published)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Engraving by George Bickham I (c.1684-1769) titled 'Writing Masters of London'. Six portraits, head and shoulders of Charles Snell (1667-1733), George Shelley (1666?- 1736?), Robert More II (1671-1727?), Ralph Snow (1670-1744), Thomas Ollyffe (fl.1685-c.1725), and John Clark (1683-1736), in ovals arranged in a calligraphic border with flanking angels, crossed pens and a crown of laurels. Probably the frontispiece to George Bickham’s The penman’s companion, 1732. Lettered with names of sitters etc., and with the mark of the collection of Joseph Gulston, M.P. (1745-1786).
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Writing Masters of London (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Engraving on paper |
Brief description | Engraving by George Bickham I (ca.1684-1769), 'Writing Masters of London'. Probably the frontispiece to George Bickham's 'The penman's companion', 1732, London. Lettered with names of sitters etc., and with the mark of the collection of Joseph Gulston, MP (1745-1786). |
Physical description | Engraving by George Bickham I (c.1684-1769) titled 'Writing Masters of London'. Six portraits, head and shoulders of Charles Snell (1667-1733), George Shelley (1666?- 1736?), Robert More II (1671-1727?), Ralph Snow (1670-1744), Thomas Ollyffe (fl.1685-c.1725), and John Clark (1683-1736), in ovals arranged in a calligraphic border with flanking angels, crossed pens and a crown of laurels. Probably the frontispiece to George Bickham’s The penman’s companion, 1732. Lettered with names of sitters etc., and with the mark of the collection of Joseph Gulston, M.P. (1745-1786). |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions |
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Credit line | Bequeathed by Sir Ambrose Heal |
Object history | This group of portraits appears to have formed the upper part of an engraved ‘Poem on Writing’ published by Henry Overton, which is listed in a sheet of letterpress dated 1739 in a copy of Charles Snell’s The Art of Writing, in the Victoria and Albert Museum Library. A later impression published by R. Sayer is in the British Museum. However, Martin Breslauer of Museum Street, London, in Catalogue No.70, March 1950, describes the only recorded copy of Bickham’s The penman’s companion, 1732, with this group of portraits as frontispiece. |
Subjects depicted | |
Associated objects | |
Bibliographic reference | Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1965 pub. HMSO 1966 |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.882-1965 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
Record URL |
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