Richard EARLOM after Peter Paul Rubens

 A Fruit Piece

Mezzotint engraving by Richard Earlom after the drawings of Josiah Boydell and the painting by Peter Paul Rubens.  Proof before title, published by Boydell in London in 1785.
23½ x 19½"

Richard Earlom was born in London in 1743, the son of the parish clerk of St. Sepulchre.  He became a pupil of Cipriani but soon devoted his time to mezzotint engraving, at which he excelled.  From 1765 onwards he worked for the publisher, John Boydell and it was during this period that he produced many of his best prints including the plates for the Houghton Gallery.  He died in Clerkenwell in 1822.  The majority of mezzotint engravers at the time concentrated on portraits after contemporary artists but Earlom chose to reproduce the work of older masters.  Much of his work was greatly admired but it is also true to say that he sometimes struggled to make mezzotinting the most appropriate and successful method of engraving for a diverse selection of painting techniques.