Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–5 public

A Fruit Market, from The Houghton Gallery

A work made of mezzotint with engraving in black ink on ivory wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of mezzotint with engraving in black ink on ivory wove paper.

Date:

1775

Artist:

Richard Earlom (British, 1743–1822)
after Frans Snyders (Flemish, 1579-1657)
intermediary drawing by Joseph Farington (British, 1747-1821)
published by John Boydell (British, 1719-1804)

About this artwork

John Boydell embarked on a monumental publication documenting the art collection of Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister. Boydell contracted 45 engravers to create 162 prints, of which Richard Earlom’s are considered the most notable.

Motivated by nationalistic pride, Boydell sought to broadcast British patronage and connoisseurship of art to an international audience, as well as to encourage Parliament to purchase the collection for the nation from Walpole’s grandson. His efforts were not entirely successful; Catherine the Great, the empress of Russia, eventually acquired the entirety of Walpole’s holdings. Regarded as one of the finest groupings of Old Master European paintings, these works—including A Fruit Market (1618/21) by Frans Snyders, reproduced in this mezzotint by Earlom—can be seen at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Richard Earlom

Title

A Fruit Market, from The Houghton Gallery

Place

England (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Published 1775

Medium

Mezzotint with engraving in black ink on ivory wove paper

Inscriptions

Inscribed recto lower right, in plate below image: “Richd,, Earlom Sculpsit.”; lower left: “Snyders & Long John Pinxerunt.”; lower center: “John Boydell excudit 1775./ Richd,, Earlom Sculpsit./ In the Gallery at Houghton./ Published March 25th, 1775 by John [coat of arms] Boydell Engraver, in Cheapside London.”

Dimensions

Image: 35.9 × 57.2 cm (14 3/16 × 22 9/16 in.); Plate: 41.5 × 57.6 cm (16 3/8 × 22 11/16 in.); Sheet: 50 × 67.2 cm (19 11/16 × 26 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Thomas B. Marston and Henry N. Tuttle

Reference Number

1922.2175

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/109150/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share