Parish Church of St. Mary Redcliff, Bristol

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

This print is dedicated to ‘Viscount Stratford de Redcliff [sic]’. Diplomat Stratford Canning (1786–1880) was raised to the peerage as Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe in 1852. The title, taken from the church of St Mary Redcliffe, alludes to William Canning (died 1474), an ancestor of Stratford Canning, who was five times Mayor of Bristol and jointly responsible for the 15th-century rebuilding of St Mary Radcliffe.

The print was issued by the lithography firm of John Lavars in 1865. Lavars simultaneously printed a ‘circular’, which promoted the lithograph as ‘undoubtedly the best representation of the venerable fabric hitherto executed’ and which stated that, until 31 March 1866, one half of the proceeds from sales of the print would be used towards the restoration of the tower and spire of the church ‘provided not less than 100 copies’ were sold by that time. The lithograph was available tinted, treble tinted (a form of colour printing) or fully-coloured by hand (like this example).

The numerous other fundraising initiatives for the church were eventually successful and the upper part of the spire was reconstructed in 1872, to a height of 292~feet (89~meters).

Little is known about E. C. Lavars. He was the son of John Lavars, who ran a lithography firm in Bristol. E. C. Lavars produced drawings of Bristol subjects, after which lithographs were published by the firm from the 1860s to 1880s. Lavars and Co. of Broad Street was founded by John in 1838. Lavars and Co. produced parliamentary plans, such Bills for railway, sewerage and waterwork projects, while also undertaking trade work. A notable publication is William Sanders' ‘Map of the Bristol Coalfield’, issued in 1862 on 19 sheets. However, the company’s staple trade was letter-headings, bills, leaflets and labels. At 78, John was ‘the oldest lithographer in Bristol’, when he died in 1889.

Places

England, Somerset

Subjects

carriage, cart, topography, tree, dog, man, woman, girl, 19th century costume, dress, top hat, soldier, gate, churchyard, church, church windows, buttress, tower

Materials & Techniques

lithograph, colour lithograph

Artist

19th century unknown
E C Lavars

Title

Parish Church of St. Mary Redcliff, Bristol

Date

published 2 January 1865

Medium

Colour lithograph

Acquisition

Purchased from the Parker Gallery, March 1969

GAC number

8367