Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/414

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rank among the miniature painters of his day. Mrs. Siddons spoke of mm in her cor- respondence in 1785 'as more successful in her portrait than any miniature painter she haa sat to.' He was deaf and dumb, and in 1796, and up to 1800, was living at Bath. He is believed to have afterwards visited India to follow his profession there. SHERWIN, William, engraver. Was born at Wellington, Shropshire, about 1650, the son of a clergyman. He engraved por- traits, many of them from his own draw- ings. His earliest work is dated 1670, and he continued to practice till 1711, and died within three or tour years after. He was one of the early mezzo-tintists, and left a few indifferent plates in that manner, not reaching any excellence in either braneh of his art He is said to have had the office of engraver to the King conferred upon him by patent, a very unusual distinction.

SHERWIN, John Ketse, engraver and history painter. Was born at Eastdean, in Sussex, the son of a labourer, and was himself, as a lad, employed as a wood-cutter on the estate of Mr. Mitf ord, near Petworth. Showing a great imitative power of draw- ing, he gained a medal at the Society of Arts in 1769, and was then sent to London and placed under John Astley. and after some time under Bartolozzi, with whom he served three years. He was admitted a student in the Royal Academy, and, after gaining a silver medal, carried off, in 1772, the gold medal for his original painting of 1 Gonolanus taking Leave of his Family.' His name from this time appears in the Academy as an exhibitor of drawings in chalk, some of which attracted much notice, and his genius soon raised him from very limited means to comparative affluence, and rendered him careless and indolent. He was rapid and slight in his manner, of great assurance, and tempted by his vanity to try works above his power. His * Deserted Village/ into which the portraits of his family are introduced, ana * Siege of Gib- raltar,' were very poor performances ; but his 'Installation of the Knights of St. Patrick/ fifty or sixty feet long, so far as it was carried, was an absolute failure.

It is as an engraver that he will rank high among our artists. His line was good, the treatment well studied, and his textures well rendered. His 'Christ bearing the Cross/ after Murillo : * Christ appearing to Mary Magdalen/ and some of his portraits, possess very great merits; while his en- gravings from his own works are meagre in style and mannered. Of this, his ' Find- ing of Moses/ in which the portraits of the Princess Royal and of several ladies of rank who sat to him are introduced, is an example ; while, as his own composition, it is devoid of all historic character and feel- ing. In addition to his works after the old

masters, he engraved after Gainsborough, Edge Pine, Dance, and Angelica Kauffman. He also made some water-colour drawings. He held the appointment of engraver to George III. ana the Prince of Wales.

His talent and his speculations should have turned to his advantage, but he had no prudence, and he so ill-used the gifts of fortune, that he ruined his constitution, disgusted his friends, and so embarrassed his circumstances, that he took refuge in the house of a print-seller on Cornhill, afraid to appear abroad, and forced to the drudgery of daily labour. Broken in health and fortune, he died, forlorn and comfort- less, in a poor lodging at a public-house in Oxford Street, on September 24, 1790, aged 39.

SHIELS, William, R.S. A., animal and subject painter. Was a native of Berwick- shire, and practised in Edinburgh. He was a member of the Scottish Academy, and was an occasional exhibitor at the Royal Academy in London. In 1813 he sent 1814, ' A Courtship ; ' and was not again a contributor till 1851, when he exhibited 'The Interior of a Scotch Fisherman's Cottage ; ' and in the following year, ' Pre- paring for a Visitor.' But ne was best known as an animal painter. He died August 27, 1857, aged 72.
 * The Gipsies' and 'A Friendly Visit ;' in

SHIERCLIFFE, Edward, miniature painter. He practised at Bristol about the latter part of the 18th century. His works were delicately and well finished. He was living in 1776.

• SHIPLEY, William, portrait and landscape painter. Was originally a draw- ing-master at Northampton, and afterwards in London. He studied portrait painting under C. Philips, and there is a mezzo-tint by Faber of a painting with the name of Shipley as the painter. But he is better known as the founder of the St Martin's Lane Academy, known as ' Shipley's School/ where the best artists of a whole generation studied He also planned and originated the Society of Arts. He died at Manchester, in December, 1803, aged 89. He was brother to Dr. Jonathan Shipley, Bishop of St. Asaph.

SHIPLEY, Miss Georgina, amateur. Was daughter of the Bishop of St. Asaph, and niece of the foregoing. Miss Burney, writing to a friend, says of her. in 1782, ' She is very much accomplished, and her fame for painting and for scholarship I know you are well acquainted with ; ' out she describes her as full of herself, eager for notice and conceited. She was an honorary exhibitor at the Royal Academy in 1781 :

In Hare's Memorial of a * Quiet Life/ it says of her, 'Her extraordinary artistic talents were cultivated under the eye of
 * Portrait of a Lady and Two Children.'

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