Object Number 1965.2949

Object Name

Print (Mezzotint)

Title

(Unidentified Woman)

Category

Prints and Maps

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Richard Purcell (Mezzotinter)
c.1736-c.1766
References: Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits, vol. 3, p. 1008.

Frans van der Myn (Painter)
c.1719-1783

Robert Sayer (Publisher)
1725-02//1794
Sayer became active as a printseller as early as the late 1740s. He built up his stock of copper plates by taking over others’ inventories, first Philip Overton, then James McArdell when he died in 1765. He worked in partnership with John Bennett from around 1774 to 1785, then operated alone again through 1793. When he died in February 1794, the firm (along with Sayer’s stock of plates) were taken over by another London print firm, Laurie & Whittle.

Place of Origin

London, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Date

1755-1765

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; Lower right; R,\d Purcell fecit.
2. Inscription; Lower left; Vander Myn Pinx.\t
3. Inscription; Lower center; Printed for Rob.\t Sayer at the Golden Buck in Fleetstreet.

Subjects

Portrait

Materials

Ink; Paper (laid)

Techniques

Mezzotint

Dimensions (inches)

15 (H) , 10.7 (W) , 13.9 (Image H) , 9.9 (Image W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

38 (H) , 27.2 (W) , 13.9 (Image H) , 9.9 (Image W)

Measurement Notes

Plate H: 14.0 in. (35.5 cm). Plate W: 10.0 in. (25.3 cm).

Publisher Summary

Sayer, Robert

Place of Publication

London, England, United Kingdom

State

II or III

Watermark

Unidentified countermark

Edition Notes

State II, according to Smith, is a reworked plate with the Bowles & Son's address erased. This impressoin bears the inscription of Robert Sayer, perhaps State III, not recorded by Smith.

Object Description

Text available soon.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Smith, John Chaloner. 1884 British Mezzotinto Portraits; Being a Descriptive Catalogue of These Engravings from the Introduction of the Art to the early part of the present century. 3. 941-1428.
• See p. 1030, no.93.