James Fittler (October 1758, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

– 2 December 1835) was an English engraver of portraits and landscapes and an illustrator of books. He was appointed by King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

to be his marine engraver. 1stLordKenyon

Life

Fittler was born in London in October 1758. In April 1778 he enrolled as student at the

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

and studied

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

. Besides book illustrations, he distinguished himself by numerous works after English and foreign artists, chiefly portraits. He also engraved landscapes, marine subjects, and topographical views, and was appointed marine engraver to

. In 1788 he resided at 62 Upper Charlotte Street, Rathbone Place in London. Fittler was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1800. He died at

Turnham Green Turnham Green is a public park on Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, and the neighbourhood and conservation area around it; historically, it was one of the four medieval villages in the Chiswick area, the others being Old Chiswick, Littl ...

, and was buried in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

churchyard. His prints, books, and copper-plates were sold at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

on 14–16 July 1825.

Works

Fittler exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1776 and 1824. Among his works are: * two views of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

, after George Robertson * a view of Christ Church Great Gate, Oxford, after William Delamotte * ''The Cutting of the Corvette la Chevrette from the Bay of Camaret, on the night of 21 July 1801'', ''Lord Howe's Victory'', and ''The Battle of the Nile'', after

Philip James de Loutherbourg Philip James de Loutherbourg, RA (born Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg; 31 October 174011 March 1812) was a French-born British painter who became known for his large naval works, his elaborate set designs for London theatres, and his invent ...

* naval battles, after Mark Oates, Thomas Luny, and

Dominic Serres Dominic Serres ( 4 November 1793) was a French-born British painter who specialised in marine art. He co-founded the Royal Academy (RA) in 1768, and served as the RA's librarian from 1792 until his death. Life and works He was born in Auch ...

* a classical landscape after Claude Lorraine * the portrait of Ercole Tasso known as ''Titian's Schoolmaster'', after

Giovanni Battista Moroni Giovanni Battista Moroni, also known as Giambattista Moroni ( – 5 February 1578) was an Italian painter of the Mannerist school. Best known for his elegantly realistic portraits of the local nobility and clergy, he is considered one of the g ...

* portrait of Lord Grenville, after

Thomas Phillips Thomas Phillips (18 October 1770 – 20 April 1845) was a leading English portrait and subject painter. He painted many of the notable men of the day including scientists, artists, writers, poets and explorers. Life and work Phillips was bor ...

* portrait of

Frodsham Hodson Frodsham Hodson (1770–1822) was an English churchman and academic, the Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1809. Life He was the son of the Rev. George Hodson, and was born in Liverpool, England, on 7 June 1770. He entered Manchest ...

, after Phillips *

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X (6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655. Born in Rome of a family fro ...

, after

Velasquez Velázquez, also Velazquez, Velásquez or Velasquez (, ), is a surname from Spain. It is a patronymic name, meaning "son of Velasco". References to "Velazquez" without a first name are often to the Spanish painter, Diego Velázquez. Notable peo ...

* views, landscapes and buildings of Scotland in ''Scotia Depicta'' He also executed the plates for Edward Forster's ''British Gallery'', many of those for John Bell's ''British Theatre'', and all the illustrations in

Thomas Frognall Dibdin Thomas Frognall Dibdin (177618 November 1847) was an English bibliographer, born in Calcutta to Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of the composer Charles Dibdin. Dibdin was orphaned at a young age. His father and mother died in 1780 while re ...

's ''Ædes Althorpianæ'', published in 1822, after which he undertook no important work.

References

External links

* Engravings in the digitised copy o
Scotia Depicta, or the antiquities, castles, public buildings, noblemen and gentlemen's seats, cities, towns and picturesque scenery of Scotland
1804 at

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

Collection of prints
at

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fittler, James 1758 births 1835 deaths 18th-century English engravers 19th-century British engravers Engravers from London Associates of the Royal Academy