John Faber Senior was a Dutch portrait engraver active in London, where he set up a shop for producing and marketing his own work. His son John Faber Junior

John Faber Junior

John Faber Junior was a Dutch portrait engraver active in London.-Life:He was born to the artist John Faber Senior in Amsterdam, and learned mezzotint and drawing from his father after the family's move to London. He then enrolled at the St. Martin's Lane Academy...

 was also active in this field.

Life

Born in the Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

, he initially worked 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...

 as a miniaturist. He moved to England in the late 1690s. In 1707 Faber was settled in The Strand, near the Savoy Hospital, where he kept a print-shop, and practised as a mezzotint

Mezzotint

Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method. It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half-tones to be produced without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple...

 engraver. He died at Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 in May 1721.

Works

Faber was noted for the small portraits which he drew from the life on vellum

Vellum

Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...

 with a pen, one being of Simon Episcopius

Simon Episcopius

Simon Episcopius was a Dutch theologian and Remonstrant who played a significant role at the Synod of Dort in 1618...

.m He engraved many portraits from the life, among them being those of Francis Atterbury

Francis Atterbury

Francis Atterbury was an English man of letters, politician and bishop.-Early life:He was born at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, where his father was rector. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he became a tutor...

, Hans Caspar von Bothmer

Hans Caspar von Bothmer

Hans Caspar von Bothmer was a Hanoverian diplomat and politician. He is most notable for his time spent in Britain after 1701, when he served as an advisor to several British monarchs....

, John Hough

John Hough (bishop)

John Hough was an English bishop. He is best known for the confrontation over his election as President at Magdalen College, Oxford that took place at the end of the reign of James II of England.-Life:...

, and Henry Sacheverell

Henry Sacheverell

Henry Sacheverell was an English High Church clergyman and politician.-Early life:The son of Joshua Sacheverell, rector of St Peter's, Marlborough,...

, besides numerous portraits of dissenting clergy. In 1712 he was employed at Oxford to engrave a set of the portraits of the founders of the colleges; this was followed by a similar set of portraits at Cambridge, making forty-five in all. To his visit to Oxford were due also the engraved portraits of Samuel Butler

Samuel Butler

Samuel Butler may refer to:*Samuel Butler , author of Hudibras*Samuel Butler , classical scholar, schoolmaster at Shrewsbury, Bishop of Lichfield...

, Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...

, Duns Scotus

Duns Scotus

Blessed John Duns Scotus, O.F.M. was one of the more important theologians and philosophers of the High Middle Ages. He was nicknamed Doctor Subtilis for his penetrating and subtle manner of thought....

, John Hevelius, Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...

, and others.

He also engraved sets of portraits, such as ‘12 Ancient Philosophers,’ after Rubens

Rubens

Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...

, ‘The Four Indian Kings’ (1710), and ‘The 21 Reformers.’

External links

• John Faber senior at the National Portrait Gallery
• Biography at the V&A