A Sketch of the Life and Work of Charles William Sherborn, Painter
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THE LIFE AND WORK OF CHARLES WILLIAM SHERBORN. : A SKETCH OF THE mt anti movl OF CHARLES WILLIAM SHERBORN, PAINTER-ETCHER. BY HIS SON CHARLES DAVIES SHERBORN. WITH a Catalogue of fits Bookplates, eomptleti fnmself anti Ceorge Heatf) Witter, LONDON ELLIS, 29 NEW BOND STREET. I912&. - PREFACE. TN writing this brief Sketch of the Life and Work of my Father A I have endeavoured to give the details of a singularly simple life, but one in which devotion to Art became a religion. This part of the Volume I offer to his friends. The lists of his Works are almost a necessity, and must needs be put on record for future use. Even those who knew my Father well will feel astonishment at the wealth of beauty he has left behind him. It seemed to me that the most appropriate Illustrations I could select are the two self-portraits and the picture of himself and my mother, taken by my sister about 1900. For the rest I content myself with Bookplates of two of his dead friends, by the kind permission of Mrs. Hilton Price and Colonel Duff Baker, and that of Mr. G. H. Viner, who generously lent his own Plate as altered for his son. “ And when like her, oh Saki, you shall pass Among the guests Star-scattered on the Grass, And in your joyous errand reach the spot Where I made one—turn down an empty Glass.” C. DAVIES SHERBORN. CONTENTS. PAGE Life of C. W. Sherborn of Line Engravings . Catalogue by Sherborn . .17 Catalogue of Etchings by Sherborn 21 Catalogue of Oil-paintings by Sherborn . 35 Catalogue of Water-colours by Sherborn ..... 36 Catalogue of Miscellaneous Prints by Sherborn .... 41 Catalogue of Works in Metal by Sherborn 45 Catalogue of Bookplates by Sherborn ...... 47 Catalogue of Super Libros by Sherborn ..... 99 Corrigenda . .100 Index 101 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 1. C. W. Sherborn* aged 20. Etched by himself in 1856, but <c " subsequently rocked” over with a mezzotinting rocker” 1 2. C. W. Sherborn* aged 43. Reproduced from a drawing* by himself* in sepia and wash 1 6 3. C. W. Sherborn, aged 75, with his wife. Reproduced from a photograph taken by their daughter . Frontispiece 4. Bookplate of F. G. Hilton Price* F.S.A., engraved by C. W. in of Hilton Price Sherborn 1894. By permission Mrs. 49 5. Bookplate of Mrs. Flora Duff Baker* engraved by C. W. Sherborn in 1903. By permission of Colonel Duff Baker . 65 6. Bookplate of George Arthur Viner* engraved by C. W. Sherborn in 1898 (the name added by Mr. Alfred D. Downey in 1905). By permission of George Heath Viner. 81 f 0 Metcf) of tf)E Ht'Ce anti ®Borlt OF CHARLES WILLIAM SHERBORN. 1881-1860 . Charles William Sherborn was born on the 14th June 1831 at 43 Leicester Square, London, premises at the south-west corner, now rebuilt and occupied by Messrs. Child. His father, Charles Sherborn, was an upholsterer by trade, and had married Mary the daughter of Richard Eance of Newbury in Berkshire, head of a well-known woollen firm of that town. Charles, who was born in 1796, left Newbury in 1817, and set up for himself at 9 Princes Street, Leicester Square, removing to the Square itself in 1830. Charles’s father William 1 — was a wheelwright in Newbury, and married Maria ( 7 53 1809) Carter of that town. He was the son of Henry Sherborn (17 11 — 1784), a farmer of New Windsor, who was the son of Henry Sherborn* (1676— 1729) of Bedfont, Middlesex, and Rachel Elford his wife. So much of his pedigree is necessary to illustrate this story; those inte- rested further may refer to the history of the family published in 19014 Although the boy was born in such artistic surroundings, Reynolds’ house being but a few doors away and Hogarth’s and Blake’s within a stone’s throw, he might have been influenced in other directions, for Isaac # One of Henry’s brothers was Charles Sherborn, the engraver, of Gutter Lane (1716— 1786), himself no mean workman in bookplates and trade cards. His chief bookplate is that of “ John Clerke of Aston, Oxfordshire.” t C. D. Sherborn, “ History of the Family of Sherborn,” London, 1901. 2 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF Newton and John Hunter had left memories in the Square. His uncle William Sherborn of Princes Street was a friend of Tom Cribb, and one of his mother's uncles (Holmes) was a sedan-chair maker under Miss Linwood’s exhibition on the north side of the Square. What led him to adopt Art as a profession instead of prize-fighting, medicine, physics, or upholstering, is not known, but his first drawing-book bears a watermark of 1834, from which it is reasonable to infer that he inclined early to the pencil. A brother, Edwin John, also drew, but his talent chiefly lay in caricature of his friends and topical events. Sherborn was educated at a local diocesan school, afterwards "finishing” at Cave House, Uxbridge. Here he seems to have spent some happy years, for he always spoke of his school and Master (Wilkinson) with pleasure. He obtained a prize in 1839, though for what subject is not stated. He took part in the Annual Festival in December 1844, but one does not find his name among those who "personified the speakers in the debate on the Irish Education Bill, as delivered in the House of Commons, Friday, July 19th, 1844.” The boys at Cave House had their own Magazine, which they printed themselves at the " Albion Press,” and seem to have been under an enlightened and broad-minded man. An excellent letter, written by young Sherborn in French, in January 1845, was among his papers. “ One of his schoolmates at Cave House was Master Cribb,” and it is interesting to note that Tom Cribb’s daughter was assistant in the hosier’s shop kept by his uncle William in Princes Street. Leaving school in at a e °f I be attended the Govern- 1845, g 4 ; ment School of Drawing and Design at Somerset House, and was apprenticed the same year to Robert Oliver, citizen and goldsmith, of Rupert Street, Soho. Oliver was mainly a silver-plate engraver, and although Sherborn kept numerous rubbings from plates evidently engraved about this period, he has marked but few with his initials, and these few he has omitted to date. His recollections of his master were not kindly, and the fact that Oliver had sent him to clean the skylights during a thunderstorm rankled in his mind. His CHARLES WILLIAM SHERBORN. 3 impressions, however, were no doubt those of most apprentices, for Oliver wrote him several kindly letters after he left his shop. Two little plates, an Ass’s Head and a Squirrel, were done at this time, and seem to have been his first attempts in etching. On 6 October 1852 he was admitted a Freeman of the City of London <e by virtue of his service in the said Company of Goldsmiths/’ and about this time went to Paris, where he studied Art for nearly twelve months, living in the students’ quarter as an artisan. His father seems to have paid him a visit there, for I find in the old man’s diary, “July 28, 1853, went t0 Paris to meet Charly.” From there he went on to Rome, where he had the good fortune to work with Pietro Girometti, the medallist and cameo worker, and enjoyed the friendship of John Gibson, the sculptor. Girometti allowed his young friend to work upon two of his own medals of Pope Pius IX., as recorded in the Appendix. Leaving Rome, he visited Naples, Pisa, Florence, and other Italian cities, made a tour across Tuscany, and returning through Switzerland settled in Geneva in 1853, his first letter home from this city being duly recorded in his father’s diary as received on 25 Sep- tember. He resided in Geneva for three years, returning to London on 17 September 1856. Save for brief visits to Paris in 1878 and 1887, this closed his foreign travel. While at Geneva he pursued his craft of designer and gold-worker, obtained a general knowledge of clock and watch-making, and filled his note books with rubbings of watchbacks and similar engraved pieces, but few are signed, so one cannot tell which are his own work. Outside his trade he found much to do, for there exists a lithograph view signed as done by him in Geneva, water- colour sketches of Rome and other Italian places, and sketches in pencil or ink reminiscent of many localities he visited and many friends he made during his stay abroad. He became a member of the “ Cercle des Artistes,” and of the “ Societe Genevoise de Gymnastique,” and he derived much pleasure in receiving an account of the fiftieth celebration of the latter society somewhere about 1900. The little etched self- portrait, at the age of 20, and dated 1856, belongs to this period. B £ 4 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF On his return to London he set up as an “Engraver” at io King Street, St. James’s, his father having moved there in 1844, after selling the Leicester Square property to the Office of Woods and Forests. Soon afterwards he entered into an unsuccessful partnership with I. A. Chomel at 69 Jermyn Street, which was dissolved in April i860, Sherborn agreeing to take over all debts due or owing to the firm (“London Gazette,” 15 May i'86o).