John Wykeham Archer (1808 – 25 May 1864) was a British artist, engraver and writer.

Life

Archer was born at

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

, in 1808. In 1820 he went to London, and became a pupil of

John Scott John Scott may refer to: Academics * John Scott (1639–1695), English clergyman and devotional writer * John Witherspoon Scott (1800–1892), American minister, college president, and father of First Lady Caroline Harrison * John Work Scott (180 ...

, a noted engraver of animals. His apprenticeship was cut short when Scott became ill, and he returned to Newcastle. There, in collaboration with William Collard he etched a series of large plates of Fountains Abbey, after drawings by

John Wilson Carmichael James John Wilson Carmichael (9 June 1800 – 1868), also known as John Carmichael was a British Marine art, marine painter. Life Carmichael was born at the Ouseburn, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, on 9 June 1800, the son of William Ca ...

, and on his own produced several plates for Mackenzie's ''History of Durham''. He then moved to Edinburgh, where he made a collection of drawings of the ancient buildings and streets of the city. In about 1830 he returned to London, and entered the studio of the engravers William and Edward Finden, who were then working on illustrations for the annuals and such publications as their ''Bible Illustrations'', and ''The Ports and Harbours of Great Britain''. After a few years the market for this kind of illustration declined, and Archer had to find less renumerative work engraving plates for the ''New Sporting Magazine''.

Career

Having been elected a member of the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, he produced a series of drawings of

St. Mary Overy Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

, previous to its restoration, and of

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite ...

. Having accumulated more than one hundred drawings of London antiquities he offered them to the British Museum, which showed no interest; instead he sold them to William Twopenny, who then commissioned Archer to execute twenty more similar drawings each year. In 1874 the British Museum purchased the collection from Twopenny's executors. Archer also made a series of drawings for the Duke of Northumberland, showing places on his estate. As an illustrator, Archer made drawings for wood engravings for publications including Charles Knight's ''History of London'', ''Illustrated London News'' and Blackie's ''Comprehensive History of England''. Archer was the author of ''Vestiges of Old London'', a large quarto volume, illustrated with etchings; and of a series of articles in '' Douglas Jerrold's Magazine'', entitled "The Recreations of Mr. Zigzag the Elder", and numerous contributions to the '' Gentleman's Magazine'', and ''Illustrated London News''. He claimed to have revived the practice of engraving monumental brasses, and produced several large monuments of this type from his own designs. He likewise painted a few works in oil.

Death

He died 25 May 1864Bryan1886–9 and was buried on the western side of Highgate Cemetery. His grave (no.129110) no longer has a readable inscription on the headstone.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, John Wykeham 1808 births 1864 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery 19th-century English painters Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne English engravers English male painters 19th-century English male artists