Peter Pelham
Mather Byles

Mather Byles

Public Domain

Mather Byles
EngraverAmerican, 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
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.
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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