When attempting to determine which portrait engraving after Chalon that Humphrys used as a reference when he was engraving his first Chalon vignette for Perkins, Bacon & Co., one question was the level of relationship between Humphrys and Cousins versus between Humphrys and Cousins.
The work Engravings from The Choicest Works of Sir Thomas
Lawrence, P.R.A. [Lawrence1846]
demonstrates a professional nexus between Cousins, Humphrys (here, Humphries)
and Wagstaff over 1837 – 1844, so it is worthwhile to report the details.
As reported by the Royal
Academy “The work was published serially from 1835. A publisher's
advertisement carrying the date 1835 announces that 'A Part will appear at
regular intervals of Three Months, containing Three Plates ...'” This advertisement
seems to have been overly optimistic, since the publishing dates for the 50 plates
span September 1 1835 to May 1 1846, or about 1.2 plates per 3 months on average.
Recall that Lawrence, President of the Royal Academy, requested
circa 1826 that Cousins dedicate his time to engraving Lawrence’s portraits,
but Cousins did not accept the offer [Whitman04].
We can speculate that some combination of the following occurred:
·
For Engravings
from The Choicest Works of Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A. , Cousins remained Lawrence’s
trusted choice of engraver, as he was selected for the first plate. Meanwhile,
Lawrence, and latterly the publishers of the work (initially Hodgson, Boys and
Graves), needed other engravers, and presumably Cousins recommended the names
of alternative engravers
·
The engravers met each other informally along
the way, perhaps as part of any checking of their prints at the publishing
house, and/or at any celebrations for the publishing of each issue in the serial
·
There were review meetings for quality review,
with some engravers “looking over the shoulder” of another engraver who had a plate
in progress, and offering suggestions
·
The leading engravers of the day were familiar
with each other via other means (from exhibits, competitive monitoring, and so
forth).
Certainly we see that Cousins engraved five plates for this
serial over 1835 – 1844, Wagstaff engraved four plates over 1837 – 1840, and
Humphrys engraved two plates, in 1839 and June 1844. It seems reasonable to
conclude that Humphrys was well aware of both Cousins and Wagstaff’s
work when he came to engrave the Chalon portrait for Perkins, Bacon & Co. in
circa 1846.
Sidebar: some
online references hint that Humphrys was in the United States in 1844, but this
table suggests that he was in London for some reasonable fraction of the first
half of 1844.
The (partially completed) table below is compiled from a) the
contents page in [Lawrence1846]
labelled “List of the Works of Sir Thomas Lawrence P.R.A. Contained in this
Volume” and b) footers below each of the prints of the portraits.
#
|
Names
of the Plates
|
Engravers
of the Plates
|
Inscribed
Details on the Plates
|
1
|
Nature
|
Samuel
Cousins ARA
|
London
Published Sept 1 1835 by Hodgson Boys & Graves Printseller to the King 6
Pall Mall
|
2
|
J.E.
Coombs
|
||
3
|
John
Lucas
|
||
4
|
Lady
Lyndhurst
|
Samuel
Cousins ARA
|
London
Published July 15 1836 by Hodgson & Graves Printseller to the King 6 Pall
Mall
|
5
|
John
Lucas
|
||
6
|
Master
Hope
|
Samuel
Cousins ARA
|
London
Published April 10 1836 by Hodgson & Graves Printseller to the King 6
Pall Mall
|
7
|
G.H.
Phillips
|
(George
Henry Phillips)
|
|
8
|
William
Giller
|
||
9
|
William
Giller
|
||
10
|
G.H.
Phillips
|
||
11
|
Countess
of Blessington
|
Samuel
Cousins ARA
|
London
Published June 1 1837 by Hodgson & Graves Printseller to the King 6 Pall
Mall
|
12
|
Lord
Ashburton
|
C.E.
Wagstaff
|
London
Published Augt 1 1837 by Hodgson & Graves Printseller to the Queen Pall
Mall
|
13
|
G.H.
Phillips
|
||
14
|
Earl
of Durham
|
C.E.
Wagstaff
|
London
Published June 1 1838 by Hodgson & Graves Printseller by Specxial
Appointment to Her Majesty 6 Pall Mall
|
15
|
G.H.
Phillips
|
||
16
|
G.H.
Phillips
|
||
17
|
James
Egan
|
||
18
|
G.H.
Phillips
|
||
19
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
20
|
Marshall
Blucher
|
C.E.
Wagstaff
|
No
additional inscription; preceding date in Nov 1 1839 and following date is
Oct 1 1839
|
21
|
Master
Locke
|
William
Humphries
|
London
Published Oct 1 1839 by Hodgson &
Graves Her Majesty's Printsellers Pall Mall
|
22
|
Cardinal
Gonsalvi
|
C.E.
Wagstaff
|
London
Published April 11 1840 by Hodgson & Graves Her Majesty's Printsellers
Pall Mall
|
23
|
S.W.
Reynolds
|
||
24
|
G.H.
Phillips
|
||
25
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
26
|
G.H.
Phillips
|
||
27
|
P.
Thomas
|
||
28
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
29
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
30
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
31
|
J.R.
Jackson
|
||
32
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
33
|
Charles
G. Lewis
|
||
34
|
J.R.
Jackson
|
||
35
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
36
|
J.R.
Jackson
|
||
37
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
38
|
J.R.
Jackson
|
||
39
|
Sir
Walter Scott Bart.
|
William
Humphries
|
London
Published June 1 1844 by H Graves
& Co. Printsellers to Her Majesty 6 Pall Mall
|
40
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
41
|
Countess
of Grosvenor
|
Samuel
Cousins ARA
|
London
Published Feby 1 1844 by H Graves
& Co. Printsellers to the Queen 6 Pall Mall
|
42
|
Edward
McInnes
|
||
43
|
W.O.
Burgress
|
||
44
|
J.
Porter
|
||
45
|
W.O.
Burgress
|
||
46
|
J.R.
Jackson
|
||
47
|
J.R.
Jackson
|
||
48
|
J.R.
Jackson
|
||
49
|
J.R.
Jackson
|
||
50
|
William
Giller
|
