Thomas Badeslade (active c. 1719–1750) was an English topographical

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types o ...

, who worked extensively with the engraver W. H. Toms. One of his early works was to draw the illustrations for the ''History of Kent'' published in 1719 by Dr John Harris. Most of the plates were aerial views of country houses, drawn in the style of

Leonard Knyff Leonard Knyff or Leendert Knijff (10 August 1650, Haarlem - April 1722, London) was a Dutch draughtsman and painter. He was the son of landscape painter Wouter Knijff and the brother of Jacob Knijff and left around 1681 from Holland to Englan ...

, a Dutch artist who had worked in England in the early 18th century. Harris was inspired by publication in 1707 and 1708 of two editions of Knyff's drawings of British estates, engraved by John Kip, and decided to attempt a similar work for country houses in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. Harris wrote the text himself, and commissioned Badeslade to produce the drawings, of which there were 36 in total. Harris paid for Badeslade to draw the view Rochester and Chatham, and for a

bird's eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downward. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photograph, but also a drawi ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

from the south. For the other drawings, the arrangement was that the owner of the estate would pay for the plate to be made, and Harris would pay for the printing. Most of the drawings were engraved by John Kip and the rest by another John Harris (not the author). The history was published in 1719, but the drawings and plates were probably completed several years earlier. In the 1720s and 1730s, Badeslade produced several volumes dealing with river navigation and canals, such as ''The history of the ancient and present state of the navigation of the port of King's-Lyn, and of Cambridge, and the rest of the trading-towns in those parts...'', a 1725 treatise on fenland navigation and drainage. It is unclear whether Thomas was the "J. Badeslade" or "T. Badeslade" who is credited along with

John Rocque John Rocque (originally Jean; –1762) was a French-born British surveyor and cartographer, best known for his detailed John Rocque's Map of London, 1746, map of London published in 1746. Life and career Rocque was born in France in about 1704 ...

as an illustrator of

Colen Campbell Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer who played an important part in the development of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As ...

's ''Vitruvius Britannicus, or the British Architect...''. Three volumes appeared between 1715 and 1725, and these appear to credit J. Badeslade, who may have been a relative. A small edition of the fourth volume was published in 1739, and this clearly credits Thomas Badeslade and John Roque. In 1741, Badeslade worked with W. H. Toms on "''Chorographia Britanniae'' or a New Set of Maps of all the Counties in England and Wales". The maps were republished on 29 September 1742, with additional place names. An engraving by W. H. Toms of Badeslade's drawing of Hawarden Castle is reported to have inspired

John Boydell John Boydell ( ; – 12 December 1804) was an English publisher noted for his reproductions of engravings. He helped alter the trade imbalance between Britain and France in engravings and initiated an English tradition in the art form. A former ...

to leave Flintshire for London to learn the craft of

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

. Other works by Badeslade are known to include a plan of the ornamental gardens at Boughton Park, Northamptonshire and a watercolor of the orangery at

Mount Edgcumbe House Mount Edgcumbe House is a stately home in south-east Cornwall and is a Grade II listed building, whilst its gardens and parkland are listed as Grade I in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. Mount Edgcumb ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Works

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References

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Badeslade, Thomas English draughtsmen English illustrators 1750 deaths Year of birth uncertain