A SET OF THREE GEORGE III EMBOSSED PAPER PICTURES

CIRCA 1765, ATTRIBUTED TO ISAAC SPACKMAN

Details

A SET OF THREE GEORGE III EMBOSSED PAPER PICTURES
Circa 1765, Attributed to Isaac Spackman
The first depicting a blue and yellow Maccaw, with an inscribed paper label Blue and Yellow Macao and 13 in pencil, the second depicting a blue, red and yellow Maccao and with an inscribed paper label Blue Red and Yellow Maccaw and another paper label inscribed Sold by Ryall and Withyat Logarth's Head and Dial opposite Salisbury Court in Fleet Street London, the third depicting a displayed parrot , each within original black-painted and parcel-gilt frame
12¼in. (31cm.) high, 9¾in. (25cm.) wide overall (3)

Lot Essay

These pictures can be attributed to Isaac Spackman, a follower of Samuel Dixon who was working in Islington, London in approximately 1750-1771. Like Dixon, the source for his bird pictures was George Edwards' Natural History of Uncommon Birds (1743-1751) and his style is recognizable by his simplistic rendering of background details. Spackman produced three sets of embossed bird pictures in 1754, 1764 and circa 1769. Each set was comprised of twelve pictures and it appears that he signed only one or two examples from each set. While Dixon worked with the assistance of three apprentices, Spackman appears to have worked alone and his pictures are more rare as a result. Several examples of his work are illustrated in 'More about Samuel Dixon and his Imitators', The Quarterly Bulletin of the Irish Georgian Society, January-June 1980.