Directory of printmakers
Faithorne,
William (c. 1620-91) Seen by Horace Walpole as the founder of the English school of
engraving, Faithorne was said by John Bagford to have been trained as an engraver by John
Payne. While serving in the royalist army he was taken prisoner at the siege of Basing House
in 1645, and, after being taken to London, he subsequently commuted his imprisonment for
banishment, going to Paris where he worked for several years. By 1652 he had returned to
England where he set up a successful business which he continued for the rest of his life,
though increasingly his activity was as a dealer rather than an engraver. At his best,
Faithorne was capable of producing very sensitive engraved portraits; however, he was
increasingly overshadowed by younger artists from the 1660s onwards. In 1662, he published
an English translation of Abraham Bosse’s treatise on engraving.
Faithorne, William, the Younger (c. 1670-1703), son of the preceding, was apprenticed to his father in 1683 and is known only as an engraver of mezzotints. Although a fine engraver, he appears to have been an incompetent businessman, and never freed himself from working for publishers. Indeed, his father briefly left retirement to publish one of his son's plates.
Fillian, John (fl. 1658-80) Son of William Fillian, a tailor of Covent Garden. In 1650 he was apprenticed to Edward Cooke, a goldsmith, for eight years. He engraved a portrait of William Faithorne, and presumably transferred to him at some point.
Fuller, Isaac (?1606-72) Fuller is said to have studied in France, returning to England during the Interregnum and becoming a leading decorative artist in the Restoration period, though none of his designs now survive. In 1654 he produced an etched drawing book for Peter Stent, the earliest British drawing book to survive.