Mather Byles

Public Domain

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Engraver Peter Pelham (American, born England, c. 1697–1751)American, born England, c. 1697–1751

CultureAmerican

Titles

Mather Byles

Datec. 1732–1739

PlaceBoston, Massachusetts, United States

MediumMezzotint on laid paper

DimensionsPlate: 6 3/16 × 4 1/2 in. (15.7 × 11.4 cm)
Sheet: 7 1/8 × 5 in. (18.1 × 12.7 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg

Object numberB.61.69

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionEnglish-born artist Peter Pelham immigrated to Boston, arriving there by 1727, when he was approximately thirty years old. He made what is believed to be the first mezzotint engraving produced in the colonies, a portrait of Puritan minister Cotton Mather. Pelham painted a portrait of Mather, which he copied as a mezzotint. Mather Byles, subject of this portrait, was Cotton Mather’s nephew. He served as minister of the Hollis Street Church in Boston, and was also known as a scholar, a poet, and a wit.
Provenance[The Old Print Shop, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1962; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Published References Fowble, E. McSherry. Two Centuries of Prints in America: 1680−1880. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia for the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1987, p. 286, no. 184. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed on reverse: Mather Byles [ink] [Fowble 1987, p. 286, no. 184]

[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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