Augustin Heckel (1690–1770) was a painter, watch case engraver and draughtsman. He painted flowers in watercolours and

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouach ...

. Heckel was born to a family of

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

s in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, Germany. His career was in England, where he came as a young man. He died on 20 August 1770 in Richmond, Surrey (now in London), where he had retired in 1746.

Works

Heckel's ''A West View of Richmond etc. in Surrey from the Star and Garter on the Hill'', published in 1752 and now in the British

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and ...

, was engraved by Charles Grignion the Elder. He published two books of flower etchings of his own designs, ''The Lady's drawing book'' in 1755, and ''The Florist'' in 1759. Cambridge's

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

has an album of his drawings.

The British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

holds two prints by John June after Augustine Heckel: ''Harrowing the Ground'' and ''Laying the Ground smooth & even for the Rice, by a second Harrowing'', dating from about 1775. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds: Heckel's ''A New Book of Sheilds icusefull for all sorts of Artificers'', an etching on paper dating from 1752; a gold box engraved by Heckel; a drawing of a design, dating from about 1740, described as being "for a

cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...

with an acanthus leaf architechtonic frame surmounted by vases and supported by a

caryatid A caryatid ( ; ; ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient t ...

in the form of a winged

putto A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

"; and a print from 1750–70, ''A Select Collection of the most beautiful Flowers, Drawn after Nature by A. Heckell; disposed in their proper Order in Baskets: Intended either for Ornament or the Improvement of Ladies in Drawing and Needlework''. Heckel's ''The Battle of Culloden'' (1746; reprinted 1797) is held by the

National Galleries of Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

. His colour engraving of ''The Countess of Suffolk's House'' (1749) is held at Marble Hill House,

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, London.

Bibliography

Richard Edgcumbe, ''The Art of the Gold Chaser in Eighteenth-century London'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2000, pp. 56–58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heckel, Augustin 1690 births 1770 deaths 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists Artists from Augsburg Painters from Bavaria German draughtsmen 18th-century German engravers 18th-century German etchers German male painters German watercolourists Richmond, London