Reverend John Williams.
London: The Patriot, 1846. A later issue of this Baxter image, printed in 1846. It retains the position of Baxter sitting in a chair with his left hand supporting his chin, his elbow leaning on a table with a gold tablecloth with red flower trim, an inkwell and books. However, the scene behind Williams is of Rarotonga, the Cook Islands. It is a scene of a hut, palm trees, some natives and orchids dangling down in the upper left corner.
The Patriot image is generally found on a canvas stretcher and highly varnished, for which the publishers charged 1s. extra. Below the print on the stretcher in the center in type in five lines is: “The Rev. J. Williams, The Martyr of Erromanga, with a landscape of the Mission house and grounds at Rarotonga. Designed, Engraved, and Printed by G. Baxter, Patentee of Oil Colour Printing, ‘Patriot’ Office, London. No. 1 of the Missionary Portrait Gallery.” Original published price 10s. 6d., or free to subscribers to the paper.
This print does not have the usual shiny colors but instead a matte surface. The face & most areas give the impression of being unfinished. There is a lack of black color in particular which gives a lack of depth to the landscape and an eerie quality to the eyes. There is evidence of gum arabic giving some areas a slight sheen. The print definitely has not had any varnish removed. There are some areas that are embossed- the mountain in the distance & his hair. It is not mounted on card with a title as is usual. The print is trimmed (no text), mounted on a thick album sheet with added card borders.
An unusual copy of Courtney Lewis no. 76. Item #12569
Price: $200.00