William Sherwin (–) was an English engraver, one of the first to work with

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...

Life

He was the son of William Sherwin (1607–1687?), the nonconformist minister, and was born at

Wallington, Hertfordshire Wallington is a small village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England, near the town of Baldock. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 150. Nearby villages include Rushden ...

, where his father was rector around 1645. On his print of his father, dated 1672, he styles himself engraver to the king by patent. He married Elizabeth Pride, great-niece and ward of

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle JP KG PC (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was cru ...

, whose heir-at-law she eventually became, and there exists a pedigree of the Moncks of

Potheridge Potheridge (''alias'' Great Potheridge, Poderigge, Poderidge or Powdrich) is a former Domesday Book estate in the parish of Merton, in the historic hundred of Shebbear, 3 miles south-east of Great Torrington, Devon, England. It is the site ...

engraved by Sherwin expressly to show his wife's claim to that position.

Works

Between 1670 and 1711 he engraved in the line style a number of portraits. These comprise large plates of Charles II,

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, ...

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...

, Baron Gerard of Brandon, the Duchess of Cleveland, and

Slingsby Bethel Slingsby Bethel (1617–1697) was a Member of Parliament with republican sympathies, during the period of the English Civil War. Early life Slingsby Bethel was the third son of Sir Walter Bethel of Alne, North Yorkshire, who married Mary, the s ...

. He also made small ones prefixed to books. He engraved the title to John Reynolds's ‘Triumphes of God's Revenge against Murder,’ 1670, several of the plates in Francis Sandford's ''History of the Coronation of James II'', 1687, and the portraits of Dr. William Sermon, prefixed to his works. Sherwin was one of the first workers in mezzotint, a technique he learned from Prince Rupert. He dedicated to the Prince a pair of large portraits of Charles II and his queen engraved by the method; the former of these is dated 1669, the earliest found on an English mezzotint. Among his other mezzotint plates are portraits of the Duke of Albemarle,

Elizabeth Monck, Duchess of Albemarle Elizabeth Monck, Duchess of Albemarle (22 February 1654 – 11 September 1734), later Elizabeth Montagu, Duchess of Montagu, was the eldest daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle, and his wife, Frances Pierrepont (1630–1695; daughter ...

, Adrian Beverland, and a number of royal personages. Sherwin seems to have worked mainly from his own drawings.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwin, William 1645 births 1709 deaths English engravers