A View of the Court of Wards and Liveries

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand

George Vertue was born in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London. His parents served in the court of James II and his father may have later become a tailor. He was first apprenticed to a silver engraver and later to Flemish engraver Michael Vandergucht. His early work includes plates after Kneller, whose academy he attended from 1711. Vertue served as official engraver to the Society of Antiquaries (1717-56). In the 1720s he concentrated on portrait frontispieces, producing over 120 in total. From 1727 he was engraver to Oxford University. Vertue was also a publisher and ran a print shop near Drury Lane. In 1712 he began gathering information for a publication on the history of art in Britain, which remained unfinished at his death.

Places

Subjects

topography, ruff, coat of arms, judge, law court, window, legal interior

Materials & Techniques

engraving

Artist

George Vertue (1684 - 1756)

Title

A View of the Court of Wards and Liveries

Date

1747

Medium

Engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from Walter T Spencer, December 1970

GAC number

9055