Frederick Tatham (31 July 1805 – 29 July 1878) was an English artist who was a member of the Shoreham Ancients, a group of followers of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of t ...

.Frederick Tatham at ''SaxonLodge'' entry for Tatham family history (The Tathams of County Durham)
/ref> The son of

Charles Heathcote Tatham Charles Heathcote Tatham (8 February 1772 in Westminster, London – 10 April 1842 in London), was an English architect of the early nineteenth century. Early life He was born in Duke Street, Westminster, the youngest of five sons of Ralph Tath ...

, an architect, Tatham and his brother and sister were all associated with the Ancients. His sister Julia married another member, George Richmond, the father of William Blake Richmond. Tatham is most notable because after Blake's death, he looked after the poet's widow Catherine, who nominally worked as his housekeeper. After her death in 1831, he claimed that she had left him all her husband’s works. This claim brought him into conflict with another Ancient, John Linnell, who insisted that Blake's sister should have inherited them. Tatham also tried to extract paintings that Linnell himself owned, though Linnell had bought them from the artist. Shortly afterwards, Tatham joined a

millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin , "containing a thousand") is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenarian ...

sect, becoming an

Irvingite The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.Edward Irving Edward Irving (4 August 17927 December 1834) was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Early life Edward Irving was born at Annan, Annandale the second son of Ga ...

). At this time his religious dogmatism led him to destroy a significant number of Blake's works in the belief that they had been inspired by the devil. Tatham later wrote biographical literature on Blake. Tatham was both a sculptor and painter, exhibiting at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

between 1825 and 1854. His works were characterised by their imitation of stiff early Renaissance styles, in the manner of the Ancients, though his later work became more conventional. Frederick Tatham died two days before his 73rd birthday in his home at 45 Oak Village in the

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...

area of Northwest London.

References

External links

Tatham at the National Portrait Gallery

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatham, Frederick 19th-century English painters English male painters English sculptors English male sculptors 1805 births 1878 deaths 19th-century British sculptors 19th-century English male artists