View of the Market Place Derby about 1850

Etrurua From Basford Bank by Henry Lark Pratt

Henry Lark Pratt (1805–1873) was an English painter who trained in the porcelain industry.

Biography

Pratt was born in the parish of St Peters in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

on 16 February 1805 and he was apprenticed into the porcelain trade at the Derby Factory at the age of about 12. Pratt would have completed his apprenticeship in 1824. He stayed in Derby until 1830. After that he worked for

Mintons Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...

from 1831 to November 1836 as a painter. Six months before he left Mintons he married Margaret Windsor of Stoke on Trent. Henry and Margaret had children with the first in 1837 and the first five in Stoke. A son was born in 1839 who was given his father's full name, causing confusion when he also became an artist. In 1841 Pratt described his profession as artist in the census and in 1844 he started taking an interest in

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

. He was then employed to sketch baronial halls in nearby counties. He enjoyed painting and was keen on landscapes and particularly the valley of

Dovedale Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale in the north and a wooded r ...

on the Derbyshire and Staffordshire border. Patrons of his art included the

Dukes of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...

and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

who bought a dinner service with views of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

that Pratt had painted. He moved back to Derby in 1851 where he was still making a living from his artistic skills that kept his wife and their nine children. In 1861 he described himself as a "Landscape painter on China." He died on 3 March 1873 in Stoke on Trent.

Works

Newport High Street in 1857 by Henry Lark Pratt

Henry Lark Pratt has several paintings in his home town's art galleryDerbyshire Artists
Derbyshire UK as well as paintings at the gallery in Newcastle-under-Lyme.Paintings from Newcastle Museum
BBC. accessed July 2010

Son

Pratt's son Henry Lark Pratt changed his name to Hilton to try to avoid confusion with his father but this was to little effect as paintings are found that are signed "H.L.Pratt". Pratt (junior) went on to exhibit a painting at the Royal Academy in 1867 and six years later he had another painting accepted by the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

. He died in 1875 at the age of 36.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Henry Lark 19th-century English painters English male painters Landscape artists 1805 births Collections of Derby Museum and Art Gallery 1873 deaths Porcelain painters People from Derby 19th-century English male artists