The painter and illustrator Richard Corbould, second
generation in a
dynasty of five generations of painters and illustrators, was born in London.
His illustrative work is typically vignette-style, and seems not just
pre-Victorian but pre-19th century in style.
Richard Corbould had five
children, two of whom were artists: George James Corbould (b. 1786) and Henry Corbould FSA*
(1787-1844). Henry Corbould's sons included Edward Henry Corbould
RI** (1815-1905) - a notable watercolourist receiving his artistic education first
at Sass’s and then at the RA Schools - and Alfred Hitchens Corbould (b. 1821)
who exhibited at the Royal Academy. The dynasty continued to a further
generation, with Richard's great-grandsons Walter Edward Corbould (b.1860) and Alfred Chantry Corbould
(1852-1920), making a line of artists from the mid-18th through to the 20th
Centuries.
* FSA = Free Society
of Artists **RI - Royal Institutue
Richard Corbould's traced works
include:
- Suffolk Landscape with Two Women (sold at
auction in May 2003 - Sotheby's New York)
- Landscape on Copper Plate
c1790
and watercolour illustrations used for
illustrating late 18th/early 19th century books.
Examples of Richard Corbould's book
illustrations can be found in Cooke's 18th century editions of Robinson Crusoe (three volumes) and Jonathon Wild the Great (one volume). He also illustrated
the 1786 Harrison edition of Lydia,
a novel by John Shebbeare.
There exists a private collection of a number
of watercolour originals by Richard Corbould of illustrations for the Cooke's
editions. In the examples of Richard Corbould's works, we show his original watercolour and the etching in the book side by side.
The two miniature portraits below of Richard
Corbould were painted on ivory early in the 20th century by Walter Edward
Corbould. Walter Edward used earlier portraits (the
older by W A Boehm RA) as the source of his miniatures. The lower miniature appears in Poulter's The Corbould Genealogy on page 17.
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