Thomas Forster (artist)

Thomas Forster (1676/7–after 1712;[1] fl.1695–1712) was an English portrait draughtsman and miniaturist.

Engraving after a self-portrait (1797)

Works

Forster is known from a number of small portraits in pencil on vellum, and according to Lionel Cust they are "drawn with exquisite care and feeling".[2] The majority of these were no doubt intended for engraving as frontispieces to books, and the following were so engraved by Michael Vander Gucht and others: John Savage, Sir Thomas Littleton, the Speaker, William Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph, Humphry Hody, John Newte, and others.[2]

Unlike David Loggan, Robert White, and John Faber Senior, who drew portraits "ad vivum" in the same style, Forster does not appear to have been an engraver himself. A number of his drawings were exhibited at the special Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures at the South Kensington Museum in 1865; they included Robert, Lord Lucas, Archbishop Ussher, Sir Thomas Pope Blount, Baronet, Lady Blount, John, Lord Somers, and Admiral Sir George Rooke. A drawing of Margaret Harcourt was acquired for the print room at the British Museum. His portraits are highly valued.[2]

References

  1. Coombs 2004.
  2. Cust 1889, p. 21.

Sources

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