Charles Pye Jr. (

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

1777–1864) was a British engraver from

. He illustrated topographical subjects, and published a ''Holy Family'' after

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

Life

Pye was the elder son of Charles Pye Sr. (see below), an engraver in Birmingham, and the brother of landscape engraver

John Pye John Pye (Birmingham 7 November 1782 – 6 February 1874 London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands ...

. He was a pupil of

James Heath James Heath may refer to: * James Heath (historian) (1629–1664), English royalist historian * James Heath (engraver) (1757–1834), English engraver * James P. Heath (1777–1854), U.S. congressman from Maryland * James E. Heath (active since 18 ...

. During his later years, Pye lived in Leamington. A trade card (proof before engraved letters) is in the Heal Collection (Heal, 59.124) and advertises "C. Pye Engraver, No.14 Charton St. Sommerstown."

Works

Pye's engravings were published in collections including: * ''Beauties of England Illustrated'' * ''Hunter's History of London'' *

Cadell & Davies Cadell and Davies was a publishing company established in London in 1793. The business was formed when bookseller and publisher Thomas Cadell the elder (1742–1802) bequeathed his business to his son Thomas Cadell the younger (1773–1836) and th ...

, ''

Britannia depicta ''Britannia Depicta'' was an illustrated road atlas for Britain. It was printed in numerous editions over many decades from 1720 into the 19th century and updated with engravings by many artisans who worked from drawings of other artists. It feat ...

''. * J. Scott and P. B. de la Boissière, ''Picturesque Views of the City of Paris and its Environs'' (1823) Pye supplied engravings to designs by

William Westall William Westall (12 October 1781 – 22 January 1850) was a British landscape artist best known as one of the first artists to work in Australia. Early life Westall was born in Hertford and grew up in London, mostly Sydenham and Hampstead. ...

for the early issues of John Poole's ''The Regent, Or, Royal Tablet of Memory''. In 1820 he published a letter, from

Euston Square Euston Square is a large square in the London Borough of Camden in Central London. It lies on Euston Road, and Euston railway station and Euston bus station are on its northernmost side. Although “Euston Square” strictly refers to the squ ...

, on his experiments with

relief etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

on copper, in ''The London Journal of Arts and Sciences''.

Charles Pye senior

In numismatics, the elder Charles Pye was associated with the

Soho Mint Soho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton in 1788 in his Soho Manufactory () in Handsworth, West Midlands, England. A mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, to his own patent design, driven by steam engine, each capable of ...

. He worked with

Sarah Sophia Banks Sarah Sophia Banks (28 October 1744 – 27 September 1818) was an English antiquarian collector and sister and collaborator of botanist Joseph Banks. She collected coins and medals and ephemera which are now historically valuable like broadshee ...

to issue a catalogue of tokens, illustrated by his own engravings, for collectors. He published ''A Correct and Complete Representation of all the Provincial Copper Coins, Tokens of Trade, and Cards of Address, on Copper, Which were circulated as such between the Years 1787 and 1801'' (1801). A third edition of this book was edited by Arthur William Waters, and appeared in 1916 as a limited edition. Pye also published Birmingham directories, and ''A Description of Modern Birmingham'' (c.1819).

References

1777 births 1864 deaths British engravers People from Birmingham, West Midlands {{UK-artist-stub