User:NormBograham/WH MOTE

William Henry Mote
WH Mote was primarily an English stipple and line engraver on steel and he was primarily known for his portraits, although he did other etchings for reference books, and some origional etchings. Today we could just take a picture, however in the mid 1800's engravings illustrated the books as black and white pictures, or sometimes these were colorized with watercolors. "WH Mote" is how he branded his engravings, although, some were also mistakenly labeled "WT Mote". Mote gained fame at the approximate age of 16 years old with his engraving "The Amethyst" working under the supervision of Charles Heath in 1819. He became a member of the Royal Academy at the approximate age of 28 years old. His son's are listed as engravers, as mentioned in the census records of the day, and the London Directories. It is unknown exactly how much WH Mote's son's worked under their fathers name.

He was commissioned by King George IV to produce an engraving for the Greenwich Hospital, which was presented a year after King George's death. WH Mote often did portraits of royalty.

Wm. Mote worked with women artists, and a high percentage of his etchings found their way into female produced publications.

The National Portrait Gallery contains 65 portrait engravings from WH Mote. The portrait of Sir Rowland Hill, in the National Portrait Gallery, was published in 1820, when WH would have been 17 years old. There are 15 engravings in the Farnsworth Shakespeare Collection (Rhode Island College). There are 21 etchings in the National Maritime Museum.

He also maintained a working relationship with the Heaths (engravers, publishers who published his work when he was 16), throughout his career, and his engravings are often in their publications.

WT Mote is likely WH Mote
Some etchings are labeled WT Mote. This is likely a mistake, and these are WH Mote's. The etchings were published in Lodge's Illustrious Portraits. There was an advertisment in Bent's Literatry Advertiser advertising these plates for sale by auction, and they were purchased for 4,200 pounds by W. Smith at the November 22 auction. (Adjusted for inflation: 370,000 in 2010, however, on ebay, 12 etchings failed to sell for $20 in 2009.). Bent's Literary Advertiser, Sept and Dec. 1836 These "mistakes", might be a typesetting error under the plate. The book itself had a consistancy in borders, so, perhaps the etching of the border was done by someone other then WH Mote. It might also be a clue that etching itself was often a team effort. There is no proof that there is another "Mote" etcher, and there was only one "Mote" mentioned for the auction sale of the origional plates. "WT" were the initials of another engraver working on the same project, William Thomas Fry.

William Henry Mote Vital Statistics:
Christopher and Hannah Mote had a son around 1803 and named their son William Henry Mote (As did most of Christopher's brothers, and uncles, they named the first child William Henry, and the second child Edward). William Henry Mote was baptized at St. John Horsley Down, Southwark, England. William Henry Mote was a career engraver, producing his first work of art at the approximate age of 16, and hundreds of high quality portrait engravings during his carear. William Henry Mote married Mary Ann Bather (born 1799) and their marriage was announced in St George Hanover Square Parish Records. William Henry Mote died 1871, in St. Johns Middlesex England. He was burried July 19, 1871 in the prestigious Highgate Cemetery of Saint James, Swains Lane, Saint Pancras, England. After his death, then his son Edward Mote marketed himself as a portrait engraver working out of his house, as listed in the London Directories in 1884 and 1895.

Children
Daughter: Mary Ann Mote: born 22 November 1830. (Baptism, marriage to Reynolds, death after 1911 in a house her owned by her brother Edward, passed down from their father. ). Son: William Henry Mote, Jr: Born 30 Aug 1832. Listed as engraver on census records, and lived for years in his fathers house. Son: Edward Mote Born 19 Jun 1834 at St. Pancras,  London, Middlesex, England. Baptized on 9 July 1834. Edward was listed as engraver on census records, and lived for years in his fathers house. He marketed himself as a portrait engraver for 25 years after his fathers death, but engravings from him are currently unknown.

Did WH Mote's son's engrave under their fathers name?
WH Mote produced volumes of etchings before his sons were old enough to help, and he was recognized by King George IV the year of his sons birth. It would appear possible that WH Mote and his sons produced volumes of etchings, as a team, when they got older. Census records indicate that the sons listed steel etching as their profession, and they never appear to have left the family home. After WH's death Edward listed his home address as the business address in the 1884 and 1895 London Directories. The sheer volume of etchings make it difficult to believe that W.H. Mote worked alone on the etchings. William Mote had the following shop locations: 1841: 23 Judd Place West. 1852: 41 Tonbridge Street. (London Business Directories, 1841, 1852).

King George III and King George IV
King George III and King George the IV were huge patrons of the arts. It was debated as to if this was good or bad, during the day. King George IV made a comment, that "art needs to be signed so that the people can tell good art from bad". It is unknown if this was tonge in cheek, or if King George was sincere in this comment, but the result was that engravings were then marked by the engraver. Especially those from artists wanting to be inducted into the Royal Academy, or those already a member. W.H. Mote became a member of the Royal Academy in 1831, shortly after King George IV's death. (It was also the year he completed the etching of John Benbow commissioned from King George IV, for the Greenwich Hospital.)  You can find the W.H. Mote brand usually at the bottom right corner. If there is an original artist, then William Mote often put the original artists name on the left bottom side of the etching. In some cases, this was a hired artist working for the engraver.

One of the reasons why William Mote engraved many historical figures was because this was a project started by the royal family to share the art with the public in various publications. Royal woman often got involved in these projects.

King George IV commissioned steel etchings
John Benbow Esqre., "Admiral of the Blue" from a painting by Sir G. Kneller] One official etching was presented to Greenwich Hospital by His Majesty King George IV.

Charles Heath
The Heath family was an publishing-engraving dynasty, started by Charles father. It was with the Heath family, that we first see mention of WH Mote as an engraver (When he was 16, he had completed an etching that got raves in a magazine!). Charles Heath did suffer some financial setbacks in the business started by his father while WH Mote's business was booming, but Heath produced books that are still being sold new today (150 years later, his books are still being sold). Charles Heath took a former employer to court about his engravings. It was his belief that it was common for the engraver to keep between 6 and 12 impressions for himself. The English court agreed, and decided that the engravers were entitled to retain 8 impressions of their work. However, “the engraver” cannot sell the engravings. (They can be sold after his death, since they are part of his estate). (The Gentleman's Magazine, volume 97).

The Heaths and the Mote's
The Heaths hired WH Mote and appear to be the one's that launched WH's career. When WH Motes was 16 years old, his engraving “The Amethyst”, was mentioned in “The Bulletin”. ("The Bulletin", volume 23, NY Public Lib, states that W. H. Mote was working under the supervision of "Charles Heath", in 1819. (The Amethyst, by engraved by W. H. Mote after E. T. Parris..).) This relationship existed for years, and the WH Motes engravings often appear in the Heaths publications (The Heaths Book of Beauty for example, and the strange WH Mote etching dominated counterpart The American Book of Beauty). The American Book of Beauty is strangely known for mixing up the etchings from one book to the other, and Mrs Spalding for example, often has the etching of another woman from the same book and the same book was published by multiple publishers. Later editions remove the descriptions under the etchings, and include two more women etched by the WH Mote's. One of the etchings is known to be of a different woman then the story. Some editions have appeared to "white" out the WH Mote brand on the right corner, and the origional artist's name, and subtitles to the etchings. Some believe this is a cleaning issue of the plates, but it conveniently didnt call attention the the scrambled order of the book plates. The Heath Family and Mote Family involved each others etchings in many books, and this was a relationship which existed for decades. There is no evidence that WH Mote had the publishing power of the Heaths, but the volume of existing and known WH Mote etchings is vastly more extensive then the Heath's. Mr Mote did market himself as an etcher in the London Business directories and upon his death, we can see that his son Edward marketed himself as a portrait engraver for another 25 years.

Forgotten WH Mote etchings are found every year.