Leonard Fryer or Frier (died 1605) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

artist who served the royal court, primarily as a decorative painter.

Career

He was probably a son of William Fryer, a London painter, and Anne Owen, a daughter of a Hondsditch gunfounder John Owen. Fryer joined the London Painter-Stainers Company in 1576. Fryer was a sergeant-painter to Queen Elizabeth. Records of these appointments are complex and potential benefits were shared with other painters. In 1598, his office of sergeant-painter was confirmed for life. On 26 April 1605, in the reigh of

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

another grant of the office was made, with survivorship to Leonard Fryer and

John de Critz John de Critz or John Decritz (1551/2 – 14 March 1642 (buried)) was one of a number of painters of Flemish origin active at the English royal court during the reigns of James I of England and Charles I of England. He held the post of Serjean ...

of the office of sergeant-painter, revoking a previous grant to Leonard Fryer with reversion to John de Critz. As De Critz was shortly afterwards in sole possession of the office, and obtained several contracts from the royal works, it is probable that Fryer had become inactive through illness and died soon after. Queen Elizabeth employed Leonard Fryer to decorate the long gallery at Oatlands with a woodgrain pattern in 1598. He primed the panelling with

white lead White lead is the basic lead carbonate 2PbCO3·Pb(OH)2. It is a complex salt, containing both carbonate and hydroxide ions. White lead occurs naturally as a mineral, in which context it is known as hydrocerussite, a hydrate of cerussite. It was ...

paint and then painted imitation "flotherwoode", with gold and silver highlights on the mouldings, with arabesque patterns and paintwork of "markatree", perhaps resembling

marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furn ...

. He finished the

graining Graining is the practice of imitating wood grain on a non-wood surface, or on relatively undesirable wood surface, in order to give it the appearance of a rare or higher quality wood, thereby increase that surface's aesthetic appeal. Graining was ...

with "sweet varnish", probably chosen for its pleasing scent. Fryer painted banners and gilded replicas of the crown jewels for the effigy at the funeral of Elizabeth I. The horses had ostrich feather plumes supplied by William Cookesbury, and Fryer gilded the leather trappings. In the first year of the reign of

, Fryer painted the ceiling of the old

Banqueting House In English architecture, mainly from the Tudor period onwards, a banqueting house is a separate pavilion-like building reached through the gardens from the main residence, whose use is purely for entertaining, especially eating. Or it may be buil ...

Whitehall Palace The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. Hen ...

with 537 square yards of "work called clouds". Fryer's will mentions an outstanding debt for painting at the coronation of King James and

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

in July 1603 and their subsequent Royal Entry to London in March 1604. The Painter-Stainers' Hall in London contains a richly chased cup presented by Leonard Fryer to the company in 1605.

A family business

Leonard's brother Robert Fryer (died 1617) was also a painter, although details of his work have not been discovered. Robert and Leonard's sons were also painters. They signed a petition about

smalt Cobalt glass—known as "smalt" when ground as a pigment—is a deep blue coloured glass prepared by including a cobalt compound, typically cobalt oxide or cobalt carbonate, in a glass melt. Cobalt is a very intense colouring agent and very littl ...

, a blue pigment made from powdered cobalt glass. A payment to a "Reynold Fryer" in 1598 for painting doors, woodwork, and panelling at

Greenwich Palace Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

in yellow and jasper colours may indicate another brother, or "Reynold" may be a scribe's error for "Leonard".Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters, 1547-1625', ''Walpole Society Volume'', 76 (2014), p. 84.

References

16th-century births 1605 deaths Year of birth missing 16th-century English painters English male painters 17th-century English painters {{England-painter-stub