Thomas Frye (c. 1710 – 3 April 1762) was an Anglo-Irish artist, best known for his portraits in oil and pastel, including some miniatures and his early
mezzotint
Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' 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. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...
engravings. He was also the patentee of the
Bow porcelain factory
The Bow porcelain factory (active c. 1747–64 and closed in 1776) was an emulative rival of the Chelsea porcelain factory in the manufacture of early soft-paste porcelain in Great Britain. The two London factories were the first in England. It ...
, London, and claimed in his epitaph to be "the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England," though his rivals at the
Chelsea porcelain factory
Chelsea porcelain is the porcelain made by the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, the first important porcelain manufactory in England, established around 1743–45, and operating independently until 1770, when it was merged with Derby porcelain. ...
seem to have preceded him in bringing wares to market. The Bow porcelain works did not long survive Frye's death; their final auctions took place in May 1764.
Frye was born at Edenderry,
County Offaly
County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...
, Ireland, in 1710; in his youth he went to London to practice as an artist. His earliest works are a pair of
pastel
A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...
portraits of boys, one dated 1734 (Earl of Iveagh). For the
Worshipful Company of Saddlers
The Worshipful Company of Saddlers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. A Guild of Saddlers, the Company's predecessor, is thought to have been an Anglo-Saxon Craft Guild – it certainly existed at some point in the eleventh ...
he painted a full-length portrait of
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...
(1736, destroyed 1940), which he engraved in mezzotint and published in 1741. With his silent partner, a London merchant
Edward Heylyn
Edward Heylyn (1695 – April 10, 1765) was a merchant and entrepreneur who was one of the founders of the Bow porcelain factory.
The Heylyn family originally came from North Wales. Heylyn was the third son of John Heylyn, a saddler of London who ...
, he took out a patent on
kaolin
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
to be imported from the English colony of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
in November 1745, and became manager of the Bow factory from its obscure beginnings in the 1740s. He retired to Wales in 1759 for the sake of his lungs, but soon returned to London and resumed his occupation as an engraver, publishing the series of life-size fancy portraits in
mezzotint
Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' 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. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...
, by which he is most remembered. He died of consumption on 2 April 1762 and was buried at
Hornsey
Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey
The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner Lo ...
.
Frye had five children;
[Victoria and Albert Museum: Artists' biographies.] his two daughters assisted him in painting porcelain at Bow until their marriages. One of them, who married a Mr Willcox, was employed by
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
at the
Wedgwood
Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...
Etruria works in painting figure-subjects from 1759 to 1776, the year of her death.
File:Girl Building a House of Cards MET DP162173.jpg, ''Girl Building a House of Cards'' Attributed to Thomas Frye
File:Old woman leaning on crutch (CBL Wep 4173.6).jpg, Old woman leaning on crutch. Mezzotint
Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' 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. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...
from the 'Twelve heads drawn from nature and as large of life' series. London, 1760. Chester Beatty Library
The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of ...
File:Thomas Frye (CBL Wep 4178.26).jpg, Self-portrait. Mezzotint from the 'Twelve heads drawn from nature and as large of life, series. London 1760. Chester Beatty Library
File:Her most excellent Majesty Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain (CBL Wep 4178.1).jpg, Her most excellent Majesty Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain. Mezzotint, London, 1762. Chester Beatty Library
Notes
External links
*'Industries: Pottery: Bow porcelain', ''A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton'' (1911), pp. 146–50
Date accessed: 17 May 2007.*''Drawn From Nature and as Large As Life':Thomas Frye's Fancy Heads'', exhibition 2006-07 National Portrait Gallery
Press release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frye, Thomas
1762 deaths
Anglo-Irish artists
18th-century English painters
English male painters
18th-century Irish painters
Irish male painters
Year of birth uncertain
Ceramics manufacturers of England
People from Hornsey
Irish emigrants to Great Britain
18th-century English male artists