Thomas Butts (1757–1845) was an English senior civil servant, and the leading patron to the artist and poet

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 poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

Early life and family

Thomas Butts was born in 1757 to Thomas Butts and Hannah Witham. He married Elizabeth Mary Cooper (1754–1825), who was a schoolmistress. They lived at number 9,

Great Marlborough Street Great Marlborough Street is a thoroughfare in Soho, Central London. It runs east of Regent Street past Carnaby Street towards Noel Street. Originally part of the Millfield estate south of Tyburn Road (now Oxford Street), the street was named ...

, Soho, London. Their great-granddaughter was the modernist writer

Mary Butts Mary Francis Butts, (13 December 1890 – 5 March 1937) also Mary Rodker by marriage, was an English modernist writer. Her work found recognition in literary magazines such as '' The Bookman'' and ''The Little Review'', as well as from fellow mo ...

(1890–1937).

Career

Butts was Assistant Commissary of Musters, and chief clerk to the Commissary General of Musters. Butts and William Blake first met in about 1799, and he regularly advanced Blake money to pay for future work. Blake taught engraving to Butts' son. Blake created a number of miniatures of the Butts family during the period from about 1801 to 1809, and these are in the collection of the British Museum. The patronage reduced from about 1816, although Butts purchased a set of the Job engravings in 1825, and in 1827 was a subscriber for the Dante engravings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butts, Thomas 1757 births 1845 deaths English civil servants William Blake English art patrons People from Soho