Francis Eginton
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
glass painter. He painted windows for cathedrals, churches, chapels and stately homes etc. around the country, leaving 50 large works altogether; his work was also exported abroad. His masterpiece is "The conversion of St. Paul", for the east window of St Paul's Church, Birmingham
St Paul's Church, Birmingham
St Paul’s, , is a church in the Georgian St Paul's Square in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, England.The Grade I listed church was designed by Roger Eykyn of Wolverhampton. Building started in 1777, and the church was consecrated in 1779. It was built on land given by Charles Colmore from his...
. He also developed a method for reproducing paintings mechanically.
Early life and career
Eginton was the grandson of the rector of Eckington, WorcestershireEckington, Worcestershire
Eckington is a small village near to the southern border of the English county of Worcestershire, according to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,202....
, and was taught the trade of an enameller
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
at Bilston
Bilston
Bilston is a town in the English county of West Midlands, situated in the southeastern corner of the City of Wolverhampton. Three wards of Wolverhampton City Council cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and...
. As a young man he was employed by Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
in the Soho Manufactory
Soho Manufactory
The Soho Manufactory was an early factory which pioneered mass production on the assembly line principle, in Soho, Smethwick, England, during the Industrial Revolution.-Beginnings:...
. In 1764 Eginton was employed as a decorator of japanned wares
Japanning
Japanning describes the European imitation of Asian lacquerwork, originally used on furniture. The word originated in the 17th century.- Japanned :Japanned is most often a heavy black lacquer, almost like enamel paint...
, but did much work in modelling. During the next few years Boulton brought together a number of able artists at Soho, including John Flaxman
John Flaxman
John Flaxman was an English sculptor and draughtsman.-Early life:He was born in York. His father was also named John, after an ancestor who, according to family tradition, had fought for Parliament at the Battle of Naseby, and afterwards settled as a carrier or farmer in Buckinghamshire...
and James Wyatt
James Wyatt
James Wyatt RA , was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical style, who far outdid Adam in his work in the neo-Gothic style.-Early classical career:...
; and Eginton rapidly became a skilful worker in almost every department of decorative art.
"Mechanical paintings" or "polygraphs"
Eginton was a partner with Boulton in the production of "mechanical paintings" or "polgraphs". The idea for these was in all probability taken by Boulton from a process modified by Robert Laurie (1755?-1836) from Jean-Baptiste Le PrinceJean-Baptiste Le Prince
Jean-Baptiste Le Prince was an important French etcher and painter. Le Prince first studied painting techniques in his native Metz. He then travelled to Paris around 1750 and became a leading student of the great painter, François Boucher...
's 'aquatint
Aquatint
Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching.Intaglio printmaking makes marks on the matrix that are capable of holding ink. The inked plate is passed through a printing press together with a sheet of paper, resulting in a transfer of the ink to the paper...
' engravings
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
. Eginton perfected the method and applied it to the production of coloured copies of paintings. More plates than one were required for each picture, and after leaving the printing-press Eginton finished them by hand. They were copies from Loutherbourgh, Angelica Kauffmann
Angelica Kauffmann
Maria Anna Angelika/Angelica Katharina Kauffman was a Swiss-Austrian Neoclassical painter. Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.- Early years :She was born at Chur in Graubünden, Switzerland,...
, and other artists, and varied in price from £1. 10s. to £21. The largest were 40 inches by 50. They were sometimes mistaken for original paintings; in fact, some of them were pronounced by two artists to be "oil-paintings of much merit", and their real character was not discovered until a cleaner removed the varnish. These old "polygraphs" were in fact nearly identical to varnished coloured lithographs (oleographs) which were then prevalent, the main difference being that the latter were printed from stones.
F. P. Smith, then of the Patent Museum
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
in South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, maintained, in a paper read before the Photographic Society of London
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society is the world's oldest national photographic society. It was founded in London, United Kingdom in 1853 as The Photographic Society of London with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Photography...
in 1863, that some of these polygraphs preserved at the museum were actually photographs of an early date! This claim, however was untenable. Pioneering photographer, Thomas Wedgwood, had indeed made experiments upon copying pictures by the action of light upon silver nitrate
Silver nitrate
Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . This compound is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides...
, but the results then obtained would be altogether incapable of producing pictures of their size and character. The matter was finally settled by a series of pamphlets written by M. P. W. Boulton (grandson of Boulton) in 1863-5, in which he gave an account of the whole matter. And, Vincent Brooks
Vincent Brooks, Day & Son
Vincent Brooks, Day & Son was a major British lithographic firm most widely known for reproducing the weekly caricatures published in Vanity Fair magazine. The company was formed in 1867 when Vincent Brooks bought the name, good will and some of the property of Day & Son Ltd, which had gone into...
, an eminent lithographer, produced an exact imitation of the "ground" of one of the examples exhibited at South Kensington by taking an impression from an aquatint engraved plate on paper used for transfer lithography.
Career as a glass painter
The "picture branch" of Boulton's business was discontinued as unprofitable, the loss on this and the japanning trade being over £500 for 1780. The partnership between Eginton and Boulton was dissolved. Lord DartmouthWilliam Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth
William Legge 2nd Earl of Dartmouth PC, FRS , styled as Viscount Lewisham from 1732 to 1750, was a British statesman who is most remembered for his part in the government before and during the American Revolution....
proposed to grant Eginton a government pension of £20 a year for his work on the aforementioned copying process, but Boulton raised objections to this proposal, and the offer was withdrawn. For the next year or two Eginton appears to have continued to work at Soho, and to have begun in 1781 to stain and paint upon glass. In 1784 he left Soho and set up in business for himself at Prospect Hill House (demolished 1871), which stood just opposite Soho.
Before Eginton the art of glass-painting had fallen into complete disuse. He revived it and turned out a long series of works in stained glass from his Birmingham factory. His first work of consequence was the arms of the knights of the Garter for two Gothic windows in the stalls in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and among other works were:
- Salisbury CathedralSalisbury CathedralSalisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....
(east and west windows, and ten mosaic windows) and Lichfield CathedralLichfield CathedralLichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...
(east window), after Joshua ReynoldsJoshua ReynoldsSir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, - The east window of Wanstead Church, EssexEssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, - A large representation of the "Good SamaritanParable of the Good SamaritanThe parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable told by Jesus and is mentioned in only one of the Canonical gospels. According to the Gospel of Luke a traveller is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a...
" in the private chapel of the ArchbishopArchbishop of ArmaghThe Archbishop of Armagh is the title of the presiding ecclesiastical figure of each of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland in the region around Armagh in Northern Ireland...
of ArmaghArmaghArmagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
, - A window in the chapel of the Bishop of DerryBishop of DerryThe Bishop of Derry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:...
's palace, - Memorial and other windows in BabworthBabworthBabworth is a village and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, about 1½ miles west of Retford. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,329...
Church, Nottingham, - Aston Church,
- ShuckburghLower ShuckburghLower Shuckburgh is a small village in eastern Warwickshire. It lies within the civil parish of Upper and Lower Shuckburgh, which in the 2001 census had a population of 82....
Church, - Tewkesbury AbbeyTewkesbury AbbeyThe Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery.-History:...
Church, - The windows of Merton College chapel, OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, - The ante-chapel of Magdalen CollegeMagdalen CollegeMagdalen College or Magdalene College may refer to:*Magdalen College, Oxford - a constituent college of the University of Oxford*Magdalene College, Cambridge - a constituent college of the University of Cambridge...
.
Eginton painted a fine window (20 ft. by 10 ft.) representing Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, in the banqueting room of Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror...
. He also did much work at Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey — also known as Beckford's Folly — was a large Gothic revival country house built around the turn of the 19th century at Fonthill Gifford in Wiltshire, England, at the direction of William Thomas Beckford and architect James Wyatt...
, including thirty-two figures of kings, knights, etc, and many windows, for which Beckford
William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford , usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometime politician, reputed to be the richest commoner in England...
paid him £12,000. Eginton sent much of his painted glass abroad, and some of his finest work ended up in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in Holland. In 1791 he completed what was then considered his masterpiece, the "Conversion of St. Paul", for the east window of St Paul's Church, Birmingham
St Paul's Church, Birmingham
St Paul’s, , is a church in the Georgian St Paul's Square in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, England.The Grade I listed church was designed by Roger Eykyn of Wolverhampton. Building started in 1777, and the church was consecrated in 1779. It was built on land given by Charles Colmore from his...
, for which he received the "very inadequate sum of four hundred guineas".
Eginton's works were, in fact, transparencies on glass. He was obliged to render opaque a large portion of his glass, and thus covered up the characteristic beauty of the old windows. Eginton's showroom was seen by all distinguished visitors of Birmingham. Lord Nelson, accompanied by Sir William and Lady Hamilton called there on 29 August 1802.
Eginton died on the 26th March 1805, and was buried in Old Handsworth churchyard.
Family
His daughter married Henry WyattHenry Wyatt (artist)
Henry Wyatt , was an English portrait, subject and genre painter.-Life and work:Wyatt was born at Thickbroom, near Lichfield, Staffordshire on 17 September 1794...
, the painter; his son, William Raphael Eginton, succeeded to his father's business, and in 1816 received the appointment of glass-stainer to Princess Charlotte
Princess Charlotte
Princess Charlotte may refer to:*Princess Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia and mother of Tsar Peter II, Emperor of Russia...
. His brother, John Eginton, was celebrated as an engraver in stipple. His nephew, Francis Eginton
Francis Eginton (engraver)
Francis Eginton was an English engraver.Eginton was the son of John Eginton, celebrated as an engraver of stipple, and nephew of Francis Eginton. He was born in Birmingham in 1775, and died in 1823 at Meertown House, near Newport, Shropshire, aged 48. Eginton's work as an engraver was...
, was also a notable engraver.
External links
- St Alkmunds Church (East wondow by Eginton)