DOI Kapitel:
Chapter X
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62095#0125
Eighteenth-Century Colour-Prints
The fourth state is printed in colour, and after the title appears “ Ex Academia regalia
Artium LondiniE
There are later states than any of these, but these are all that are worthy of
consideration. The publication line in all instances is “ J. Birchall, 473 Strand.”
ILLUSTRATION OF THE WORK OF WILLIAM NUTTER
Nutter (William), 1759-1802.—Nutter was originally apprenticed to Joseph Strutt,
but later on he had the distinction of being a pupil of that brilliant bon viveur J. R.
Smith. His works were few, and his death was premature. Perhaps he learnt something
more than engraving from his genial master, and fast living in the latter half of the eighteenth
century needed a strong constitution. Anyway he died at the age of forty-four, and was
buried in the graveyard of Whitfield’s Tabernacle in Tottenham Court Road. Some of
his most admirable work, and it was work of quite exceptional excellence, was his
miniatures after Sam Shelley. It is hardly necessary to specify these, for they are nearly
all good, and in colour they are beautiful. Nutter seems to have tried his hand also at
painting, for in the Royal Academy Catalogues of 1782-1783 he appears as the author of
some allegorical designs. Apart from the above-mentioned miniatures, a quite consider-
able number of Nutter’s works are held to-day in high esteem. The “ Lecture on
Gadding ” and “ The Moralist,” after designs by J. R. Smith, although the plates with
thirty impressions and eight in colour only realised £1 :ns. in 1791, would be
considered cheap to-day at fifty times that sum. A complete contrast to Nutter’s
miniatures after Shelley is to be found in his well-known portrait of “ Captain Coram,”
after the celebrated picture by Hogarth which adorns the Foundling Hospital. “ The
Farmer’s Visit to his Daughter in Town,” engraved by Bond, is the pair to “ The Visit
Returned in the Country,” engraved by Nutter. Dickinson published them both in
1789 ; the coloured impressions being the first state after the proof. Apart from the
wholly admirable engravings after Sam Shelley, of which, perhaps, I might distinguish “Mrs.
Bryam and her Children,” a small square, and “ The Hours,” engraved for the Cabinet of
Genius, the following are to be found among Nutter’s most successful prints in colour :
“ The Seasons,” after Hamilton (White and Ogborne assisted in the completion of the
set) ; “ Bacchante” (Mrs. Hartley and child), after Sir Joshua Reynolds (there is a mezzo-
tint of this by Giuseppe Marchi) ; “ The Ale-House Door ” and “ The Farm-yard,” after
Singleton ; “ Saturday Night ” and “ Sunday Morning,” after Bigg ; “ Martha Gunn ”
(Bathing Woman); “ The Peasant’s Little Maid,” after Russell ; “ Just Breech’d ” and
“ The First Bite,” after Stothard; and “ Strangers at Home,” after Morland. An oval print
after Westall, entitled “ Cupid Sleeping,” is interesting for the dedication to “ The
Duchess of Devonshire,” of whom it is supposed to be a portrait. Some stanzas by the
unfortunate Mrs. Robinson which decorate the inscription almost exonerate Florizel’s
behaviour to her. Two other charming prints after Westall, by Nutter, are “The
Sensitive Plant” and “The Rosebud.” Two pretty little subjects after Hamilton are
“ Breaking up ” and “ The Masquerade.” “ Cecilia overheard by young Delville,” after
Stothard, is a faithful reproduction of the painter’s faults.
Plate XXXII. Lady Beauchamp (Marchioness of Hertford).—The picture from which
The fourth state is printed in colour, and after the title appears “ Ex Academia regalia
Artium LondiniE
There are later states than any of these, but these are all that are worthy of
consideration. The publication line in all instances is “ J. Birchall, 473 Strand.”
ILLUSTRATION OF THE WORK OF WILLIAM NUTTER
Nutter (William), 1759-1802.—Nutter was originally apprenticed to Joseph Strutt,
but later on he had the distinction of being a pupil of that brilliant bon viveur J. R.
Smith. His works were few, and his death was premature. Perhaps he learnt something
more than engraving from his genial master, and fast living in the latter half of the eighteenth
century needed a strong constitution. Anyway he died at the age of forty-four, and was
buried in the graveyard of Whitfield’s Tabernacle in Tottenham Court Road. Some of
his most admirable work, and it was work of quite exceptional excellence, was his
miniatures after Sam Shelley. It is hardly necessary to specify these, for they are nearly
all good, and in colour they are beautiful. Nutter seems to have tried his hand also at
painting, for in the Royal Academy Catalogues of 1782-1783 he appears as the author of
some allegorical designs. Apart from the above-mentioned miniatures, a quite consider-
able number of Nutter’s works are held to-day in high esteem. The “ Lecture on
Gadding ” and “ The Moralist,” after designs by J. R. Smith, although the plates with
thirty impressions and eight in colour only realised £1 :ns. in 1791, would be
considered cheap to-day at fifty times that sum. A complete contrast to Nutter’s
miniatures after Shelley is to be found in his well-known portrait of “ Captain Coram,”
after the celebrated picture by Hogarth which adorns the Foundling Hospital. “ The
Farmer’s Visit to his Daughter in Town,” engraved by Bond, is the pair to “ The Visit
Returned in the Country,” engraved by Nutter. Dickinson published them both in
1789 ; the coloured impressions being the first state after the proof. Apart from the
wholly admirable engravings after Sam Shelley, of which, perhaps, I might distinguish “Mrs.
Bryam and her Children,” a small square, and “ The Hours,” engraved for the Cabinet of
Genius, the following are to be found among Nutter’s most successful prints in colour :
“ The Seasons,” after Hamilton (White and Ogborne assisted in the completion of the
set) ; “ Bacchante” (Mrs. Hartley and child), after Sir Joshua Reynolds (there is a mezzo-
tint of this by Giuseppe Marchi) ; “ The Ale-House Door ” and “ The Farm-yard,” after
Singleton ; “ Saturday Night ” and “ Sunday Morning,” after Bigg ; “ Martha Gunn ”
(Bathing Woman); “ The Peasant’s Little Maid,” after Russell ; “ Just Breech’d ” and
“ The First Bite,” after Stothard; and “ Strangers at Home,” after Morland. An oval print
after Westall, entitled “ Cupid Sleeping,” is interesting for the dedication to “ The
Duchess of Devonshire,” of whom it is supposed to be a portrait. Some stanzas by the
unfortunate Mrs. Robinson which decorate the inscription almost exonerate Florizel’s
behaviour to her. Two other charming prints after Westall, by Nutter, are “The
Sensitive Plant” and “The Rosebud.” Two pretty little subjects after Hamilton are
“ Breaking up ” and “ The Masquerade.” “ Cecilia overheard by young Delville,” after
Stothard, is a faithful reproduction of the painter’s faults.
Plate XXXII. Lady Beauchamp (Marchioness of Hertford).—The picture from which