PAIR OF M. DIGBY WYATT COLOR LITHOGRAPHS OF FRENCH SHIELDS & GUNS CIRCA 1852-53

Description: PAIR OF M. DIGBY WYATT COLOR LITHOGRAPHS OF FRENCH & ENGLISH SHIELDS & GUNS CIRCA 1852-53 Frames measure 23 ¾” high by 18 ¾” wide; Images measure 16 5/8” high by 11 5/8” wide. The first lithograph depicts a round shield and it titled “Shield Produced in Electroplate by Elkington & Mason, of Birmingham” It is subtitled “London printed and published Jan. 15th 1853 by Day & Son Lithographers to the Queen”P.H. Delamotte, Del. M. Digby Wyatt, Direx J. Maloney, Lith. At the top right hand corner of this lithograph it says, “Plate 138” The second lithograph depicts a round iron shield flanked on the top and bottom by two revolvers. This lithograph is titled “A Shield of Iron Designed by Vechte for LePage Moutier of Paris” It is subtitled “London printed and published Oct 15th 1852 by Day & Son Lithographers to the Queen” L. H. Michael, Del. M. Digby Wyatt, Direx J. A. Vinter, Lith. Wyatt, M[atthew] Digby (Sir, after 1855) 1820 - 1877 First Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge University (1869). Wyatt was born to Matthew Wyatt, a barrister in Ireland and London police magistrate. He studied at the architectural firm of his brother, Thomas Henry Wyatt (1807-1880), beginning in 1836. That year he won a medal from the Institute of British Architects for an essay. He made a continental tour in 1844-46, collecting material for his book, published in 1848, Specimens of Geometrical Mosaics of the Middle Ages. Wyatt's skill at art reporting was first manifest when he was assigned to write on the 1849 French salon by the Society of Arts. Wyatt was accompanied by the writer and promoter Henry Cole (1808-1882) who was intent on launching an industrial art exhibition for England. Wyatt reviewed the Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin (q.v.) the same year. Although he applauded Ruskin's disgust at "shams" of architecture, the differences between Wyatt and Ruskin were already clear. As an architect, Wyatt was not averse to mixing styles, something common during the Victorian era, and Ruskin despised it. Cole was successful in masterminding the 1851 Great London Exhibition, of which Wyatt was made secretary by the executive committee. Wyatt exhibited both architectural drawings and reported on the Fair, for which he won medals and a special award from Prince Albert. In 1852 together with a number of other art-historical writers, including Anna Jameson (q.v.) he published The History of the Painters of All Nations. He and the architect Owen Jones (1809-1874) designed the fine arts decorations for the Crystal Palace's second erection, representing the various nationalities, at Sydenham in 1854. He married Mary Nicholl in 1853. In 1855 he was elected surveyor for the East India Company, later receiving a knighthood for this work. That same year he was made honorary secretary for the Royal Institute of British Architects (held until 1859). In 1869, Cambridge University established the Slade professorship of fine arts at roughly the same time Oxford had appointed Ruskin first Slade professor of fine arts. Wyatt was selected to be its first recipient of the Cambridge chair and was awarded an honorary M. A. His inaugural lecture, titled "Fine Art: Its History, Theory and Practice," was published in 1871. He died in 1877 at his castle, Dimlands, South Wales where he had gone to recuperate from the stress of his practice. He is buried at Usk, Monmouthshire. Wyatt's career was primarily that of an architect. He was responsible for restorations of buildings and memorial monuments and royal and government commissions with his brother, Thomas Henry Wyatt. As an architectural historian, he differed from Ruskin in that he supported the revival architectural work of A. W. Pugin (q.v.), for whom he took Ruskin to task for criticizing. He also disagreed with Ruskin in the value of the iron-and-glass Crystal Palace, correctly seeing it as the bellwether to modern architecture. But his writing style and theory were generally pedestrian compared to Ruskin.

Price: 695 USD

Location: Portland, Oregon

End Time: 2025-01-24T06:21:16.000Z

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