James Bisset (ca. 1762 – 17 August 1832) was a Scottish-born artist, manufacturer, writer, collector,

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationshi ...

and poet, who spent most of his life in and around

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 ...

, England. Bisset was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, the son of a merchant who invested the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

trade but had fallen upon hard times. He was educated at

Perth Academy Perth Academy is a state comprehensive secondary school in Perth, Scotland. It was founded in 1696. The institution is a non-denominational one. The school occupies ground on the side of a hill in the Viewlands area of Perth, and is within the Pe ...

until 1776 when he moved at the age of 13 to

, where his brother had established himself as a merchant. At the age of 15 Bisset obtained an apprenticeship with a Birmingham

japanner Japanning is a type of finish that originated as a European imitation of East Asian lacquerwork. It was first used on furniture, but was later much used on small items in metal. The word originated in the 17th century. American work, with the ...

, and by 1785 was listed in a local trade directory as a painter of miniatures. His invention of a method of painting on the inside of convex glasses enabled him to develop a successful business making ornamental goods and marry the daughter of a local landowner, and the early years of the nineteenth century saw him diversifying into

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

-production and art dealing. In 1789, he was instrumental in establishing one of Birmingham's first committees to provide

watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book Limited series (comics), maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 a ...

(a form of early policing), in the St. Paul's district. In 1808 Bisset moved to a large house in New Street where he established a museum and picture gallery – Birmingham's first – that displayed everything from paintings and medals to stuffed wildlife and "works of savage nations". In 1813 he sold two paintings by

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

and moved to nearby

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, where his museum was re-established by his wife Dolly. A poetic survey round Birmingham - James Bisset - 1800 - 03

Bisset was a notable figure in Birmingham's cultural and commercial life, a prominent member of the

Birmingham Book Club The Birmingham Book Club, known to its opponents during the 1790s as the Jacobin Club due to its political radicalism, and at times also as the Twelve Apostles, was a book club and debating society based in Birmingham, England from the 18th to the ...

and a composer of much published verse. His most notable work is his 1800 ''Poetic survey round Birmingham, with a brief description of the different curiosities and manufactures of the place, accompanied with a magnificent directory, with the names and professions, &c. superbly engraved in emblematic plates'' – a directory of Birmingham trades at the time of the town's revolutionary industrial expansion, written in heroic verse and intended as a "grand tour" of the "works of genius" of a "seat of the arts".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisset, James 1762 births 1832 deaths People from Birmingham, West Midlands Writers from Perth, Scotland British medallists Portrait miniaturists Artist authors Museum founders People educated at Perth Academy