The Heron by Peter Mazell after Peter Paillou

Peter Mazell was an Irish painter and engraver, working in London between c. 1761 and 1797. He is known for his fine engravings of natural history subjects, especially those illustrating books by John Walcott and the Welsh naturalist

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (14 June Old Style, OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales ...

. He created almost 600 engravings in his career. He also exhibited paintings of landscapes and of flowers. He exhibited at the Society of Artists and at the Royal Academy.

Life and work

Eagle Tavern and Coffee House - Crace XVII

Mazell is believed to have been the son of Pierre Mazell (d. 2 March 1787) and Catherine Rocque (d. 7 September 1788),

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s living in

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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He lived in central London, with addresses in Tottenham Court Road (1769), Paddington (1770–80), Portland Street (1783), Gerrard Street (1790), Covent Garden (1791) and St. Pancras (1797). In 1761 he exhibited a landscape painting at the Society of Artists in London, and worked in London for the rest of his career. Most of his subsequent exhibits between then and 1791 were prints of his

engravings Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

on copperplate; these included views of country scenery such as ''The Upper Lake of Killarney'', 1770 as well as numerous views of London and other cities. His landscape and natural history engravings are considered extremely crisp and neat. However, not everybody liked his work; the Dutch provincial governor

Joan Gideon Loten Joan Gideon Loten (also spelt Johan or John, in school records as Johannes Gideon Looten) (16 May 1710 – 25 February 1789) was a Dutch servant in the colonies of the Dutch East India Company, the 29th Governor of Zeylan, Fellow of the Royal Soc ...

complained of the "bungling engraver Mazell" for his work on two engravings of what was then called the " Ceylon Tailorbird", and referring to the plate of another bird, the

red-faced malkoha The red-faced malkoha (''Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. This malkoha species is endemic to Sri Lanka Description This is a large species at 46 cm with a long graduated tail. I ...

, "made so dirty by the pityable engraver Mazell". Mazell often worked on natural history illustrations for books by

, using paintings of birds by

Peter Paillou Peter Paillou (c.1720 – c.1790) was a British artist best known for his paintings of birds, many of which were used as book illustrations. Life and career Little is known of his early life but it is believed that he came to Britain from Fr ...

in ''The British Zoology'' (1766), ''History of Quadrupeds'' (1781) and ''Arctic Zoology'' (1784–1785). He also illustrated some of Pennant's travel books including ''Tour of Wales'', 1778. As well as works by Pennant, Mazell illustrated books by

John Boydell John Boydell (; 19 January 1720 (New Style) – 12 December 1804) was a British publisher noted for his reproductions of engravings. He helped alter the trade imbalance between Britain and France in engravings and initiated a British tradition i ...

in 1763; Charles Cordiner's ''Remarkable Ruins and Romantic Prospects of North Britain'' in 1792; and Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

's ''Voyages''. At least occasionally, he continued to paint as well as to make engravings: he exhibited two flower paintings at the 1797 exhibition of the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

Mazell's engravings are of paintings by many artists including Charles Cordiner;

Moses Griffiths Moses Griffith (6 April 1747 – 11 November 1819) was a Welsh draughtsman, engraver and watercolourist. Griffith was born at Trygarn House in the parish of Bryncroes on the Llŷn Peninsula, Caernarfonshire. His parents were of humble station, ...

;

John Webber John Webber (6 October 1751 – 29 May 1793) was an English artist who accompanied Captain Cook on his third Pacific expedition. He is best known for his images of Australasia, Hawaii and Alaska. Biography Webber was born in London, educated ...

; Rowland Omer;

Philip Thicknesse Captain Philip Thicknesse (1719 – 23 November 1792) was an English author, eccentric, and friend of the artist Thomas Gainsborough. He wrote several travel guides. Early life Philip Thicknesse was born in Staffordshire, England, son of John ...

; the natural history artist

Desmoulins Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. Desmoulins was tried and executed alongside Georges Danton when the Committee o ...

;

Samuel Rawle Samuel Rawle (1771–1860) was an English topographical engraver and draughtsman. He practised in London. From 1798, he engraved many plates for the ''European Magazine'' and ''Gentleman's Magazine''. Later he was employed on some of the major top ...

; Richard Holland; William Miller;

Jonathan Fisher Parson Jonathan Fisher (1768–1847) was the first Congregational minister from 1794 to 1837 in the small village of Blue Hill, Maine in the United States. Although his primary duties as a country parson engaged much of his time, Fisher was also ...

; Thomas Snagg;

James "Athenian" Stuart James "Athenian" Stuart (1713 – 2 February 1788) was a Scottish archaeologist, architect and artist, best known for his central role in pioneering Neoclassicism. Life Early life Stuart was born in 1713 in Creed Lane, Ludgate Street, London ...

; Christian Georg Schütz;

Paul Sandby Paul Sandby (1731 – 7 November 1809) was an English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Life and work Sandby was ...

; John Watts; the equestrian painter

George Stubbs George Stubbs (25 August 1724 – 10 July 1806) was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Reynolds or Gainsborough ...

Awards and achievements

Mazell became a Fellow of the Society of Artists in 1772, and Vice-President of the same Society in 1790.

Works in national collections

National Portrait Gallery

British Museum
(70 prints)
National Trust

Victoria and Albert Museum

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

National Gallery of Australia
(35 prints)

References

External links

Bibliotheca Britannica (Rev. Charles Cordiner)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazell, Peter Natural history illustrators Irish engravers British bird artists