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John Wykeham Archer
19th century City view of London from Fleet Street with St.Pauls, shops figures

circa 1840

About the Item

Archer was born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 1808. In 1820 he went to London, and became a pupil of John Scott, a noted engraver of animals. His apprenticeship was cut short when Scott became ill, and he returned to Newcastle. There, in collaboration with William Collard he etched a series of large plates of Fountains Abbey, after drawings by John Wilson Carmichael, and on his own produced several plates for Mackenzie's History of Durham. He then moved to Edinburgh, where he made a collection of drawings of the ancient buildings and streets of the city. In about 1830 he returned to London, and entered the studio of the engravers William and Edward Finden, who were then working on illustrations for the annuals and such publications as their Bible Illustrations, and The Ports and Harbours of Great Britain. After a few years the market for this kind of illustration declined, and Archer had to find less renumerative work engraving plates for the New Sporting Magazine. Having been elected a member of the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, he produced a series of drawings of St. Mary Overy, previous to its restoration, and of Lambeth Palace. Having accumulated more than one hundred drawings of London antiquities he offered them to the British Museum, which showed no interest; instead he sold them to William Twopenny, who then commissioned Archer to execute twenty more similar drawings each year. In 1874 the British Museum purchased the collection from Twopenny's executors. Archer also made a series of drawings for the Duke of Northumberland, showing places on his estate. As an illustrator, Archer made drawings for wood engravings for publications including Charles Knight's History of London, Illustrated London News and Blackie's Comprehensive History of England. Archer was the author of Vestiges of Old London, a large quarto volume, illustrated with etchings; and of a series of articles in Douglas Jerrold's Magazine, entitled "The Recreations of Mr. Zigzag the Elder", and numerous contributions to the Gentleman's Magazine, and Illustrated London News. He claimed to have revived the practice of engraving monumental brasses, and produced several large monuments of this type from his own designs. He likewise painted a few works in oil. This painting is truly one of the finest examples of mid 19th century city, scape painting I have ever seen. The quality of the people, the shops, the sky, the buildings, and of course, St.Pauls in the background is outstanding. Along with the painting being phenomenal the condition is perfect. The painting has no restoration or in-painting. The painting has an original label on the reverse, and also a label from the famous London art dealers off at Ackerman and sons. If you look closely at the right hand side of the painting, you will see even the shop names perfectly painted. Unlike cities like Paris and Venice, London was really painted and quality paintings like this do not come to market very often. The painting is also framed in its original frame.
  • Creator:
    John Wykeham Archer (1808 - 1864, English)
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1840
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 10 in (25.4 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    The painting is in perfect original condition and has no restoration.
  • Gallery Location:
    Woodbury, CT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU507313226972
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