William Tassie (177726 October 1860) was a British gem engraver and cameo modeller of Scottish descent, who worked in London in the early 19th century. He took over the business of his uncle,

James Tassie James Tassie (1735–1799) was a Scottish gem engraver and modeller. He is remembered for a particular style of miniature medallion heads, portraying the profiles of the rich and famous of Britain, and for making and selling large numbers of "T ...

, after James's death in 1799. He added largely to his uncle's collection of casts and medallions. His portrait of Pitt, in particular, was very popular, and circulated widely. On 28 January 1805, Tassie won the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery and its painting collection in a lottery held to pay off the debts of its owner,

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 ...

. Tassie's three-guinea ticket won the top prize among the 22,000 sold. Boydell had died just before the drawing. His nephew Josiah Boydell offered to buy the gallery and its paintings back from Tassie for £10,000, but Tassie refused and auctioned the paintings at Christie's.Friedman, 4, 87–90; Merchant, 70–75. The painting collection and two reliefs by Anne Damer fetched a total of £6,181 18s. 6d. Tassie died in 1860 and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, London. He bequeathed to the

Board of Manufactures During the Enlightenment and the industrial revolution, Scottish industrial policy was made by the Board of Trustees for Fisheries, Manufactures and Improvements in Scotland, which sought to build an economy complementary, not competitive, with ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, an extensive and valuable collection of casts and medallions by his uncle and himself, along with portraits of James Tassie and his wife by the painter David Allan, and a series of

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

studies by

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

from pictures of the Dutch and Flemish schools.

References

Bibliography

*Friedman, Winifred H. ''Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery''. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1976. . *Gray, John Miller.
James and William Tassie: A Biographical and Critical Sketch, with a Catalog of Their Portraits
'. Edinburgh: Walter Greenoak Patterson, 1894. *Merchant, W. Moelwyn. ''Shakespeare and the Artist''. London: Oxford University Press, 1959. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tassie, William 1777 births 1860 deaths Burials at Brompton Cemetery Engraved gem artists British jewellers