Robert Pollard (1755–1838) was an English engraver and painter.

Life

Born at

Newcastle-on-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 ...

, Pollard was articled to a watch-smith there, and then became a pupil of Richard Wilson. For a time he practised as a landscape and marine painter, producing such works as "The Departure", based on the ship wreck of the

84th Regiment of Foot The 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot was a regiment in the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot to form the York and Lancaster Regiment, wit ...

(1780). In 1781 he moved to London, worked as an engraver for the printseller John Harris, and established himself in a studio in

Spa Fields Spa Fields is a park and its surrounding area in the London Borough of Islington, bordering Finsbury and Clerkenwell. Historically it is known for the Spa Fields riots of 1816 and an Owenite community which existed there between 1821 and 1824. The ...

, London. In 1788 Pollard was elected a fellow, and in the following year a director, of the

Incorporated Society of Artists The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in May 1761 by an association of artists in order to provide a venue for the public exhibition of recent work by living artists, such as was having success in the long-established P ...

, which closed down in 1791. He was in business for many years in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

. In 1810 he sold up, but then in Holloway Place ran a printselling business, for which his son James supplied many of the designs. In October 1836, as the last surviving member, Pollard gave the charter, books, and papers of the Incorporated Society to the

Royal Academy 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 pur ...

. They had been passed to him in 1808 by Charles Taylor. Pollard died on 23 May 1838.

Works

For a decade in London, Pollard produced a large number of plates, executed in his own mixed style, composed of

line engraving Line engraving is a term for engraved images printed on paper to be used as prints or illustrations. The term is mainly used in connection with 18th- or 19th-century commercial illustrations for magazines and books or reproductions of paintings. ...

, etching, and

aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. It has also been used h ...

. Some were from his own designs: ''Lieutenant Moody rescuing a Prisoner'', 1785, ''Adventure of Lady Harriet Ackland'', 1784, ''Edwin and Angelina'', 1785, ''The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green'', and eight plates of shipping. After other artists, Pollard engraved: Robert Pollard Battle of Abukir

* ''Wreck of the Grosvenor East Indiaman'', 1784; * ''Wreck of the Halsewell East Indiaman'', 1786; * ''Margaret Nicholson's attempt to murder George III'', 1786; and * two plates illustrating the restoration of a young man to life by

John Coakley Lettsom John Coakley Lettsom (1744 – 1 November 1815, also Lettsome) was an English physician and philanthropist born on Little Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands into an early Quaker settlement. The son of a West Indian planter and an Iris ...

and

William Hawes William Hawes (178518 February 1846) was an English musician and composer. He was the Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal and musical director of the Lyceum Theatre bringing several notable works to the public's attention. Life Hawes was ...

, 1787, these all after Robert Smirke; * ''Trial of Warren Hastings'', 1789; * ''Thanksgiving Day in St. Paul's'', 1789; and * Views of Bloomsbury, Hanover, Grosvenor, and Queen squares, London, all after

Edward Dayes Edward Dayes (1763 in London – May 1804 in London) was an English watercolour painter and engraver in mezzotint. Life He studied under William Pether, and began to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1786, when he showed a portrait and views o ...

; * ''Wreck of the Centaur'' and ''Preservation of Captain Inglefield after the Wreck'', a pair after Robert Dodd, 1783; * ''Leonora'', after

John Raphael Smith John Raphael Smith (1751 – 2 March 1812) was a British painter and mezzotinter. He was the son of Thomas Smith of Derby, the landscape painter, and father of John Rubens Smith, a painter who emigrated to the United States. Biography Bapt ...

, 1786. Pollard engraved many naval scenes after

Nicholas Pocock Nicholas Pocock (2 March 1740 – 9 March 1821) was an English artist known for his many detailed paintings of naval battles during the age of sail. Birth and early career at sea Pocock was born in Bristol in 1740, the son of a seaman.Chatte ...

; also works after

Richard Cosway Richard Cosway (5 November 1742 – 4 July 1821) was a leading English portrait painter of the Georgian and Regency era, noted for his miniatures. He was a contemporary of John Smart, George Engleheart, William Wood, and Richard Crosse. ...

Sawrey Gilpin Sawrey Gilpin (30 October 1733 – 8 March 1807) was an English animal painter, illustrator, and etcher who specialised in paintings of horses and dogs. He was made a Royal Academician. Life and work Gilpin was born in Carlisle in Cumbr ...

Thomas Stothard Thomas Stothard (17 August 1755 – 27 April 1834) was an English painter, illustrator and engraver. His son, Robert T. Stothard was a painter ( fl. 1810): he painted the proclamation outside York Minster of Queen Victoria's accession to the t ...

, Francis Wheatley, and some other artists. Many of these plates were finished in aquatint by

Francis Jukes Francis Jukes (1745–1812) was a prolific engraver and publisher, chiefly known for his topographical and shipping prints, the majority in aquatint. He worked alongside the great illustrators of the late eighteenth century. He contributed numerous ...

Family

Pollard married Ann Iley of Newcastle in 1778. The artist

James Pollard James Pollard (1792–1867) was a British painter noted for his mail coach, fox hunting and equine scenes. Life Pollard was born in Baynes Spa Fields (later renamed Exmouth Street) in Islington, the son of the painter and publisher Robert Pol ...

was their son.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Robert 1755 births 1838 deaths 18th-century English painters 19th-century English painters Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne English engravers English male painters 19th-century English male artists 18th-century English male artists