William Humphrey (1740?–1810?) was an English engraver and printseller.

Life

Born about 1740, Humphrey began life as an engraver and published from the Shell Warehouse, St Martin's lane between 1764 and 1774. In 1765 he obtained a premium from the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

for a

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

engraving of a self-portrait of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

. Later in life Humphrey concentrated on printselling. He made journeys to Holland and elsewhere on the continent and had a penchant for collecting English portraits. He became the chief agent for the major private collections of portraits made about this time. At one time he took

Charles Howard Hodges Charles Howard Hodges (1764 in Portsmouth – 24 July 1837 in Amsterdam), was a British painter active in the Netherlands during the French occupation of the 18th and early 19th century. Biography Hodges was a pupil of John Raphael Smith and had ...

, the engraver, to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, where Hodges established himself. There is a trade card for him engraved from him by Francis Bartolozzi in the Banks collection in the British MuseumBanks collection D,2.3380 Humphrey was residing at 227 Strand in 1785. This was also the first address of his sister Hannah's shop where she sold

James Gillray James Gillray (13 August 1756Gillray, James and Draper Hill (1966). ''Fashionable contrasts''. Phaidon. p. 8.Baptism register for Fetter Lane (Moravian) confirms birth as 13 August 1756, baptism 17 August 1756 1June 1815) was a British list of c ...

's prints before moving to

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

. He died probably about 1810 in a particular state of debt.

Works

Humphrey engraved portraits in mezzotint, some after

Robert Edge Pine Robert Edge Pine (1730, London – November 18, 1788, Philadelphia) was an English people, English portrait and historical painter, born in London. He was the son of John Pine, the engraver and designer. Career He painted portraits, including of G ...

. That of John Sturt the engraver was after William Faithorne the younger; of Colonel Richard King, after

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723) was a German-born British painter. The leading Portrait painting, portraitist in England during the late Stuart period, Stuart and early Georgian eras ...

; Mr Mannock, brother of Sir William Mannock, after Samuel Cooper; of

Madame Du Barry Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (; 28 August 1744 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being ...

, from a drawing by Benjamin Wilson; and others. He also etched a few small portraits, and engraved in stipple ''Cupid and Psyche'' and ''Beauty and Time'', from his own drawings, and ''The Nativity of Christ'', after

John Singleton Copley John Singleton Copley (July 3, 1738 – September 9, 1815) was an Anglo-American painter, active in both colonial America and England. He was believed to be born in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, to Richard and Mary Singleton Copley ...

. The British Museum has around 380 prints published by Humphreys including a large number of political satires relating to the 1784 Westminster Election, with important early works that helped establish the printmaking careers of both

Thomas Rowlandson Thomas Rowlandson (; 13 July 1757 – 21 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual soc ...

and

; these are described in the '' Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum''. Volume VI Humphrey's output also included

portraits (he reissued a number of plates originally published by

John Raphael Smith John Raphael Smith (25 May 1751 – 2 March 1812) was a British Painting, painter and mezzotinter. He was the son of Thomas Smith (English painter), Thomas Smith of Derby, the landscape painter, and father of John Rubens Smith, a painter who e ...

) as well as mezzotint drolls.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Humphrey, William 1740s births 1810 deaths English engravers