Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Candlestick
Prints and Maps
Thomas Frye (Designer, draftsman and engraver)
London, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe
1760
Ink; Paper (laid); Cardboard
Mezzotint
1959.0098.042
Object Number1959.0098.042 |
Print and frame (Mezzotint)
Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Candlestick
Prints and Maps
Museum purchase
Thomas Frye (Designer, draftsman and engraver)
1710-04/02/1762
Frye was works manager at Bow China Works, 1744-59. His name, along with Bow clothing merchant Edward Heylin, appears on the first patent to produce porcelain at Bow, applied for on December 6, 1744, and enrolled on April 5, 1745, as well as the second patent (without Heylin) applied for on November 17, 1748 and enrolled on March 17, 1748. His epitaph credits him as "the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England", but this is doubtful.
References: Chaloner-Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits, vol. 2, p. 516; A History of the County of Middlesex, vol. 2 (1911), pp. 146-50. His obituary appears in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1764.
London, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe
1760
1. Inscription; Lower left, within image; TF. [intertwined]
2. Inscription; Lower left, beneath image; T. Frye Pictor. Inv:\t Sculp:\t
3. Inscription; Lower right, beneath image; Hatton Garden 1760.
Portrait
Ink; Paper (laid); Cardboard
Mezzotint
20.37 (H) , 15.4 (W) , 18.6 (Image H) , 13.88 (Image W)
51.75 (H) , 39.2 (W) , 18.6 (Image H) , 13.88 (Image W)
H at left. W at bottom. D at bottom left. Trimmed within platemark at bottom. Plate W: 13.9 in. (35.4 cm). Frame H: 22.8 in. (58.0 cm). Frame W: 17.8 in. (45.1 cm). Frame D: 1.2 in. (3.1 cm).
1760
London, England, United Kingdom, Europe
I or II
State I as issued by the engraver. State II, published by Boydell. Either a late impression of state I or state II, as this impression is weak, although there is no evidence of reworking.
Text available soon.
[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. 2. 461-940.
• Print listed as no.19, p.521.