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Charge

Publisher Philipp H. André German
Publisher James Heath British
1803
Not on view
"Specimens of Polyautography" contains the first lithographs published in Britain. The process was invented by Alois Senefelder, a Munich dramatist turned printer seeking an inexpensive means to reproduce texts and music. In 1796 he experimented with relief printing from stone blocks, then discovered in 1798 that marks made on limestone with greasy inks or crayons could be printed by purely chemical means. After the surface is treated with gum arabic and nitric acid, dusted with resin and talc, and finally moistened with water, oily printing ink will adhere to the applied marks but not the stone. Senefelder visited London in 1800 to obtain British patents for his revolutionary process, selling the latter rights on in 1801 to Johann Anton André, a printer of musical scores from Offenbach am Main. Johann's brother Philipp, who lived in London, was enlisted to set up a press and develop the method's artistic potential. Interested local artists were supplied with materials and Philipp teamed with James Heath to print and publish sets of twelve "polyautographs" in 1803. The gray aquatint mount here indicates that Porter's "Charge" comes from the latter early group rather than the 1806 reissue.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Charge
  • Series/Portfolio: Specimens of Polyautography, first issue
  • Artist: Robert Ker Porter (British, 1777–1842)
  • Publisher: Philipp H. André (German, active London 1800–1805)
  • Publisher: James Heath (British, London 1757–1834 London)
  • Date: 1803
  • Medium: Pen lithograph on dark gray-brown aquatint mount
  • Dimensions: sheet: 9 3/16 x 12 5/8 in. (23.3 x 32 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
  • Object Number: 28.15.1(1)
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Specimens of Polyautography, Consisting of Impressions Taken from Original Drawings (Made on Stone) Purposely for This Work
Multiple artists/makers
1803–7
Charge
Robert Ker Porter
Georg Jacob Vollweiler
1803–6
Weymouth Bay, David Lucas British, Mezzotint on chine collé; proof before published state
Weymouth Bay
David Lucas
John Constable
1830
The Waterworks at Marli, and St. German en Laye seen in the distance (La Machine de Marli, avec une vue eloignée de St. German en Laye), Thomas Girtin British, Soft-ground etching and aquatint
The Waterworks at Marli, and St. German en Laye seen in the distance (La Machine de Marli, avec une vue eloignée de St. German en Laye)
Multiple artists/makers
1803
The Young Artists' Companion; or, Drawing-Book of Studies and Landscape Embellishments : comprising a great variety of the most picturesque objects required in the various compositions of landscape scenery, arranged as progressive lessons, David Cox British, Illustrations: soft ground etching, aquatint, some hand-coloring
The Young Artists' Companion; or, Drawing-Book of Studies and Landscape Embellishments : comprising a great variety of the most picturesque objects required in the various compositions of landscape scenery, arranged as progressive lessons
Multiple artists/makers
1825

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