Thomas Frye (c. 1710 – 3 April 1762) was an Anglo-Irish artist, best known for his portraits in oil and pastel, including some miniatures and his early

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 tonal ...

engravings. He was also the patentee of the

Bow porcelain factory The Bow porcelain factory (active c. 1747–64 and closed in 1776) was an emulative rival of the Chelsea porcelain factory in the manufacture of early soft-paste porcelain in Great Britain. The two London factories were the first in England. It ...

, London, and claimed in his epitaph to be "the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England," though his rivals at the

Chelsea porcelain factory Chelsea porcelain is the porcelain made by the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, the first important porcelain manufactory in England, established around 1743–45, and operating independently until 1770, when it was merged with Derby porcelain. ...

seem to have preceded him in bringing wares to market. The Bow porcelain works did not long survive Frye's death; their final auctions took place in May 1764. Frye was born at Edenderry,

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland ...

, Ireland, in 1710; in his youth he went to London to practice as an artist. His earliest works are a pair of

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

portraits of boys, one dated 1734 (Earl of Iveagh). For the

Worshipful Company of Saddlers The Worshipful Company of Saddlers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. A Guild of Saddlers, the Company's predecessor, is thought to have been an Anglo-Saxon Craft Guild – it certainly existed at some point in the elevent ...

he painted a full-length portrait of

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fa ...

(1736, destroyed 1940), which he engraved in mezzotint and published in 1741. With his silent partner, a London merchant Edward Heylyn, he took out a patent on

kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedra ...

to be imported from the English colony of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

in November 1745, and became manager of the Bow factory from its obscure beginnings in the 1740s. He retired to Wales in 1759 for the sake of his lungs, but soon returned to London and resumed his occupation as an engraver, publishing the series of life-size fancy portraits in

, by which he is most remembered. He died of consumption on 2 April 1762 and was buried at

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

. Frye had five children;Victoria and Albert Museum: Artists' biographies. his two daughters assisted him in painting porcelain at Bow until their marriages. One of them, who married a Mr Willcox, was employed by

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indus ...

at the

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

Etruria works in painting figure-subjects from 1759 to 1776, the year of her death. File:Girl Building a House of Cards MET DP162173.jpg, ''Girl Building a House of Cards'' Attributed to Thomas Frye File:Old woman leaning on crutch (CBL Wep 4173.6).jpg, Old woman leaning on crutch.

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 tonal ...

from the 'Twelve heads drawn from nature and as large of life' series. London, 1760.

Chester Beatty Library The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of ...

File:Thomas Frye (CBL Wep 4178.26).jpg, Self-portrait. Mezzotint from the 'Twelve heads drawn from nature and as large of life, series. London 1760. Chester Beatty Library File:Her most excellent Majesty Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain (CBL Wep 4178.1).jpg, Her most excellent Majesty Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain. Mezzotint, London, 1762. Chester Beatty Library

Notes

External links

*'Industries: Pottery: Bow porcelain', ''A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton'' (1911), pp. 146–50
Date accessed: 17 May 2007.
*''Drawn From Nature and as Large As Life':Thomas Frye's Fancy Heads'', exhibition 2006-07 National Portrait Gallery
Press release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frye, Thomas 1762 deaths Anglo-Irish artists 18th-century English painters English male painters 18th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Year of birth uncertain Ceramics manufacturers of England People from Hornsey Irish emigrants to Great Britain 18th-century English male artists