Michael Ford (died October 1758?), was an Irish mezzotint engraver. A native of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ford had been a pupil of engraver John Brooks. When Brooks left Ireland around 1747, Ford set up shop as his successor in a store on Cork Hill. There, he engraved a number of portraits in mezzotint, which on account of their scarcity are highly valued by collectors. He also painted

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

, and engraved some himself. His subjects included senior judges like

Thomas Marlay Thomas Marlay (c.1680–1756) was an Irish politician and judge, who ended his career as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He is remembered chiefly for beginning the rebuilding of Celbridge Abbey, and as the grandfather of the statesman Henry Grat ...

and Henry Singleton. Ford's address as publisher appears on some of the engravings by Andrew Miller and

James MacArdell James MacArdell (1729?–1765) was an Irish mezzotinter. Life He was born in Cow Lane (later Greek Street), Dublin, around 1729. He learnt mezzotint-engraving from John Brooks. When Brooks moved to London in 1746, MacArdell and other pupils foll ...

. With the former he seems to have been in rivalry, as they often engraved the same subjects, notably Hogarth's full-length portrait of Gustavus Hamilton, of which Ford's print seems to be the earlier of the two. It is probable that Ford visited London, but this is not certain. On 27 October 1758 the ship ''Dublin Trader'', Captain White, left Parkgate, Cheshire, for Dublin, and foundered in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

; she carried 70,000

Irish pounds The pound (Irish: ) was the currency of the Republic of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or IR£ for distinction). The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin cir ...

in money and £80,000 in goods, along with around sixty passengers, among whom were Edward, fifth

Earl of Drogheda Earl of Drogheda is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1661 for The 3rd Viscount Moore. History The Moore family descends from Sir Garrett Moore, a staunch friend of Hugh O'Neill, the Great Earl of Tyrone, whose submission ...

, the actor

Theophilus Cibber Theophilus Cibber (25 or 26 November 1703 – October 1758) was an English actor, playwright, author, and son of the actor-manager Colley Cibber. He began acting at an early age, and followed his father into theatrical management. In 1727, Alex ...

, and others. There are grounds for supposing that Ford was also among the passengers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Michael Year of birth missing 1758 deaths English engravers 18th-century engravers