The Sortie from Bayonne, 14 June 1814

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Downing Street

Draughtsman and printmaker William Heath was born in Northumbria. Little is known of his early life but he may have been raised in Spain and have served in the British army. Heath was 14 when his first satirical cartoons were published and he continued to etch caricatures and illustrate books, including his own ‘Life of a Soldier’ (1823). In 1825-26 he was in Edinburgh, writing and illustrating for the journal ‘Glasgow Looking Glass’. He later returned to London to illustrate a similar journal, ‘Looking Glass’. From 1827-29 he identified his work with a tiny drawing of stage character ‘Paul Pry’, abandoning the motif when it was copied by other artists. From 1830 he concentrated on topographical illustration. He died in Hampstead, aged 45.
Thomas Sutherland was a prominent aquatint engraver who specialised in sporting, coaching, naval and military subjects, as well as topographical views. His engravings were generally made after the designs of contemporary artists. His best known works are some of the 105 illustrations to Rudolf Ackermann’s ‘The Microcosm of London’ (completed in three volumes in 1810). Sutherland also produced a series of prints based on the Peninsular Battles of 1808 to 1814. He lived and worked in London.

Places

France, Aquitaine, Bayonne

Subjects

topography, tree, horse, military uniform, cannon, musket, rifle (military), soldier, Napoleonic Wars, Battle of Bayonne

Materials & Techniques

aquatint, coloured aquatint

Artist

William, ("Paul Pry") Heath (1795 - 1840)
Thomas Sutherland (1785 - 1838)

Title

The Sortie from Bayonne, 14 June 1814

Date

published 4 June 1836

Medium

Coloured aquatint

Acquisition

Purchased from John McMaster, August 1949

GAC number

891