William Dickinson (1746–1823) was an English

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 ...

engraver.

Life

He was born in London. Early in life he began to engrave in mezzotint, mostly caricatures and portraits after

Robert Edge Pine Robert Edge Pine (1730, London – November 18, 1788, Philadelphia) was an English people, English portrait and historical painter, born in London. He was the son of John Pine, the engraver and designer. He painted portraits, such as those of Geor ...

, and in 1767 he was awarded a premium by the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

. In 1773 he commenced publishing his own works, and in 1778 went into partnership with Thomas Watson, who engraved in both stipple and mezzotint, and who died in 1781. Dickinson appears to have been still carrying on the business of a printseller in 1791 in London, but he later moved to Paris, where he continued to engrave, making prints for the new regime and then for Napoleon; in 1814 Thomas Lawrence and Benjamin West visited him in Paris, the latter trying to persuade him to come back to London to engrave his paintings. He died in the summer of 1823 and his death was noted in the ''Gentleman's Magazine'' in September of that year. Lydia William Dickinson

Works

John Chaloner Smith John Chaloner Smith (19 August 1827 – 13 March 1895) was an Irish civil engineer, remembered as collector of and writer on British mezzotints. Life Smith was born in Dublin in 1827. His father was a proctor of the ecclesiastical courts, and ...

in his ''British Mezzotinto Portraits'' described 96 plates by Dickinson. His major works were portraits, in particular those after

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

.They include full-length portraits of George III in his coronation robes, Charles, duke of Rutland, Elizabeth, countess of Derby, Diana, viscountess Crosbie, Mrs. Sheridan as ‘St. Cecilia,’ Mrs. Pelham, Mrs. Mathew, Lord Robert Manners, and Richard Barwell and son; and three-quarter or half-length portraits of Jane, duchess of Gordon, Emilia, duchess of Leinster, Lady Charles Spencer, Lady Taylor, Richard, earl Temple, Admiral Lord Rodney, Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Percy, bishop of Dromore, Soame Jenyns, and the Hon. Richard Edgcumbe. He also engraved portraits of: * John, duke of Argyll, after

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...

; * Lord-chancellor Thurlow (full-length), Admiral Lord Keppel, Thomas, lord Grantham, Sir Charles Hardy, Dr. Law, bishop of Carlisle, Isaac Reed, and Miss Ramus (afterwards Lady Day), after George Romney; * George II (full-length), Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick,

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

, Miss Nailer as "Hebe", Mrs. Yates (full-length),

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fo ...

(two plates), and

James Worsdale James Worsdale (''c.'' 1692 – 10 June 1767) was an Irish and English portrait painter, actor, literary fraud, and libertine whose lively conversation, wit, and boldness allowed him to move among the highest circles of literary life. His ski ...

, after Robert Edge Pine; * Richard, first earl Grosvenor (full-length), after

Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...

; * the Duke and Duchess of York (two full-lengths), after

John Hoppner John Hoppner (4 April 175823 January 1810) was an English portrait painter, much influenced by Reynolds, who achieved fame as a brilliant colourist. Early life Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents – his mothe ...

; * Mrs. Siddons as "Isabella" (full-length), after Thomas Beach; * Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, and William, Lord Auckland, after

Sir Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at t ...

; * Samuel Wesley when a boy (full-length), after John Russell; * Mrs. Gwynne and Mrs. Bunbury as the "Merry Wives of Windsor", after

Daniel Gardner Daniel Gardner (1750 – 8 July 1805) was a British painter, best known for his work as a portraitist. He established a fashionable studio in Bond Street in London, specializing in small scale portraits in pastel, crayons or gouache, often bo ...

; * Sir Robert Peel, after

James Northcote James Northcote (22 October 1746, in Plymouth – 13 July 1831, in London) was a British painter. Life and work Northcote was born in Plymouth, and was apprenticed to his father, Samuel Northcote, a watchmaker. In his spare time, he drew and ...

; * Charles Bannister, after W. C. Lindsay; * Mrs. Hartley as "Elfrida", after James Nixon; * Napoleon I, after Gérard (1815); * Catharine, Empress of Russia; and * others after

Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...

Nathaniel Dance Sir Nathaniel Dance (20 June 1748 – 25 March 1827) was an officer of the East India Company who had a long and varied career on merchant vessels, making numerous voyages to India and back with the fleets of East Indiamen. He was already awar ...

, Wheatley, Gainsborough Dupont,

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 ...

, and Morland. Besides these he engraved a "Holy Family", after

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

; heads of

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

, Helena Forman (Rubens's second wife), and

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

, after Rubens; "The Gardens of Carlton House, with Neapolitan Ballad-singers", after

Henry William Bunbury Henry William Bunbury (1 July 1750 – 7 May 1811) was an English caricaturist. The second son of Sir William Bunbury, 5th Baronet (see Bunbury baronets), of Mildenhall, Suffolk, he came of an old Norman family. He was educated at Westminster ...

; "The Murder of David Rizzio" and "Margaret of Anjou a Prisoner before Edward IV", after John Graham; "Lydia"," after

Matthew William Peters Matthew William Peters (1742 – 20 March 1814) was an English portrait and genre painter who later became an Anglican clergyman and chaplain to George IV. He became known as "William" when he started signing his works as "W. Peters".Simon ...

; and "Vertumnus and Pomona" and "Madness", after Pine, some of which are in the dotted style. One of his most famous engravings was of

's ''A Long Minuet as Danced at Bath'', which he published in 1787 and which measured around in length. File:The Dinner. Symptoms of Eating & Drinking (BM 1917,1208.3030).jpg, The Dinner. Symptoms of Eating & Drinking after Henry William Bunbury, 1794 File:"A Smoking Club" Wellcome L0016629.jpg, "A Smoking Club" After Henry Williams Bunbury; published by Samuel William Fores (1792) File:Fording the Brook (BM 2010,7081.1822).jpg, After: Samuel Hieronymus Grimm (1772) File:A semi-nude woman with exaggerated staring eyes and chained Wellcome V0016640.jpg, (after Robert Edge Pine) 1775 File:Ontmoeting van Odysseus en Penelope The meeting of Ulysses and Penelope (titel op object), RP-P-OB-34.223.jpg, The meeting of Ulysses and Penelope 1788 File:Mrs. Gwynne and Mrs. Bunbury in the Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare) MET DP858681.jpg, Mrs. Gwynne and Mrs. Bunbury in the Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare)

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickinson, William 1746 births English engravers 1823 deaths