Elias Ashmole
Engraving
1656 (made)
1656 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object type
This print is an engraving, an image made by cutting lines into the surface of a flat piece of metal, inking the plate and then transferring the ink held in the lines onto a sheet of paper.
People
This engraving is of Elias Ashmole (1617-1692), founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He became a collector after his marriage to a rich widow in 1649. He was a member of the Royal Society but his main interest was in alchemy, astrology and magic. Elias Ashmole helped John Tradescant the Younger (1608-1662), the royal gardener, collector, traveller and importer of exotic plants, to catalogue the Tradescants' collection of curiosities. Tradescant made over this 'Closett of Rarities' to Elias Ashmole in 1659. Ashmole subsequently presented the collection to Oxford University, where it formed the basis of the Ashmolean Museum.
This print shows the bust of Ashmole raised on a pedestal that is supported by an arrangement of books. The symbol on the pedestal is Ashmole's birth sign, Gemini (the Twins) and below, to one side, his arms and family crest, a running greyhound.
Ownership & Use
Elias Ashmole paid William Faithorne seven pounds for making this plate in 1656. The print was used by Ashmole as a frontispiece to various volumes of his manuscript notes. It was once thought to have been made for use as a bookplate, but it was never intended for this purpose.
This print is an engraving, an image made by cutting lines into the surface of a flat piece of metal, inking the plate and then transferring the ink held in the lines onto a sheet of paper.
People
This engraving is of Elias Ashmole (1617-1692), founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He became a collector after his marriage to a rich widow in 1649. He was a member of the Royal Society but his main interest was in alchemy, astrology and magic. Elias Ashmole helped John Tradescant the Younger (1608-1662), the royal gardener, collector, traveller and importer of exotic plants, to catalogue the Tradescants' collection of curiosities. Tradescant made over this 'Closett of Rarities' to Elias Ashmole in 1659. Ashmole subsequently presented the collection to Oxford University, where it formed the basis of the Ashmolean Museum.
This print shows the bust of Ashmole raised on a pedestal that is supported by an arrangement of books. The symbol on the pedestal is Ashmole's birth sign, Gemini (the Twins) and below, to one side, his arms and family crest, a running greyhound.
Ownership & Use
Elias Ashmole paid William Faithorne seven pounds for making this plate in 1656. The print was used by Ashmole as a frontispiece to various volumes of his manuscript notes. It was once thought to have been made for use as a bookplate, but it was never intended for this purpose.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Elias Ashmole (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Engraving, ink on paper |
| Brief description | Print, portrait of Elias Ashmole, antiquary and astrologer, engraved by William Faithorne, 1652. |
| Physical description | Engraving |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
PRINTS
Cheap prints of this period fuelled political and religious debate. The more expensive prints gathered here also suggest anxieties over threats to the established church. Religious images banned in public remained permissible between the covers of a book. Two printmakers were prominent. Hollar and his copyists recorded the topography and contemporary life of London. Faithorne, originally a Royalist, returned from banishment during the Commonwealth to make portraits of the gentry and leading scholars.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Given by Edgar Seligman |
| Object history | Engraved by William Faithorne; published in London |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Object type This print is an engraving, an image made by cutting lines into the surface of a flat piece of metal, inking the plate and then transferring the ink held in the lines onto a sheet of paper. People This engraving is of Elias Ashmole (1617-1692), founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He became a collector after his marriage to a rich widow in 1649. He was a member of the Royal Society but his main interest was in alchemy, astrology and magic. Elias Ashmole helped John Tradescant the Younger (1608-1662), the royal gardener, collector, traveller and importer of exotic plants, to catalogue the Tradescants' collection of curiosities. Tradescant made over this 'Closett of Rarities' to Elias Ashmole in 1659. Ashmole subsequently presented the collection to Oxford University, where it formed the basis of the Ashmolean Museum. This print shows the bust of Ashmole raised on a pedestal that is supported by an arrangement of books. The symbol on the pedestal is Ashmole's birth sign, Gemini (the Twins) and below, to one side, his arms and family crest, a running greyhound. Ownership & Use Elias Ashmole paid William Faithorne seven pounds for making this plate in 1656. The print was used by Ashmole as a frontispiece to various volumes of his manuscript notes. It was once thought to have been made for use as a bookplate, but it was never intended for this purpose. |
| Associated object | E.800-1960 (Impression) |
| Bibliographic reference | Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1960: Volume 2, Edgar Seligman Gift. London: HMSO, 1966. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.801-1960 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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