Edward Le Davis ( fl. 1671–1691) was a Welsh engraver and art dealer. Born Edward Davis, he spent some time working in France, and later prefixed "Le" to his surname.

Life

Davis was apprenticed to

David Loggan David Loggan (1634–1692) was an English baroque engraver, draughtsman, and painter. Life He was baptised on 27 August 1634 in Danzig, then a semi-autonomous city (granted by the Danzig law) within Polish Prussia (''Prusy Królewskie'' ...

, but got on badly with Loggan's wife. He broke his articles of apprenticeship and went to Paris. There he worked as an engraver and was given business by

François Chauveau François Chauveau (10 May 1613 – 3 February 1676) was a French artist, known as a burin engraver, draftsmen and painter. Life François Chauveau was born 10 May 1613 in Paris, as the second son of the impoverished noble, Lubin Chauveau a ...

. In the early 1670s Davis returned to London, where he engaged in picture-dealing, and painted portraits. He is known to have held an auction in 1691, with paintings collected by

Antonio Barberini Antonio Barberini (5 August 1607 – 3 August 1671) was an Italian people, Italian Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts an ...

and Sir James Palmer. As an London engraver of the time he has been considered outranked by Loggan,

Peter Vanderbank Peter Vanderbank or Vandrebanc (1649–1697) was a French-English engraver. Life Vanderbank was born in Paris in 1649, and studied his art there under Nicolas Poilly. About 1674 he accompanied Henri Gascar to England, and gained a reputation a ...

and Robert White. His work was featured, however, in a 2001 exhibition on the female courtiers of Charles II, at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

Works

From his Paris period, Davis's prints put out by Chaveau included ''St. Cecilia'' after

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

, ''Ecce Homo'' after

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of th ...

, and ''The Infant Christ holding a cross'' (1671). His London engravings included portraits of: Charles II (later altered to William III);

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, ...

after

John Baptist Gaspers Jan Baptist Jaspers, also John Baptist Gaspars (died 1691), a native of Antwerp, was a scholar of Thomas Willeborts. He visited England during the civil war, and was much employed by General Lambert. After the Restoration he became an assistant ...

, the frontispiece to vol. ii. of

Moses Pitt Moses Pitt (c. 1639–1697) was a bookseller and printer known for the production of his ''Atlas'' of the world, a project supported by the Royal Society, and in particular by Christopher Wren. He is also known as the author of ''The Cry of t ...

's ''English Atlas'', 1681;

James, Duke of York James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

; the Prince and Princess of Orange, after

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

; the

Duchess of Portsmouth Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

, after Lely; and Charles, Duke of Richmond, after

Willem Wissing Willem Wissing, known in England as William Wissing (1656 – 10 September 1687), was a Dutch portrait artist who worked in England. He was born in either Amsterdam or The Hague, and studied at The Hague under Willem Doudijns (1630–97) and A ...

; also George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, and Bertram Ashburnham, both engraved for the 1679 edition of

John Guillim John Guillim (c. 1565 – 7 May 1621) of Minsterworth, Gloucestershire, was an antiquarian and officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He is best remembered for his monumental work on heraldry, ''A Display of Heraldry'', first pub ...

's ''Heraldry''.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Davis, Edward Year of birth missing Welsh engravers Welsh businesspeople British portrait painters 17th-century births 17th-century deaths