Memoirs of Mrs. Siddons

1827

De Beer Eb 1827 B

London: H. Colburn

Like aquatint, mezzotint is another tonal process. It is technically a drypoint method, where the engraver works the design from a black ground to the highlights, not from a white ground to the black lines or shadows. By roughening, using a rocker, and scraping, which removes the burr, the velvety quality of the image is formed. Noticeably, much less impressions are made from mezzotint than other image-making processes. While there were many European exponents, it was also popular in England, becoming known as la manière anglaise. One English master was Charles Turner (1774-1857), who specialized in portraiture. Here he has worked his magic to form a frontispiece of ‘Mrs Siddons’ after a painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence.