Thomas Butts

Thomas Butts (1757-1845) was an English senior civil servant, and the leading patron to the artist and poet William Blake.[1]

Thomas Butts
Thomas Butts c.1801, watercolour on ivory by William Blake, in the British Museum
Born1757
Died1845
NationalityBritish

Early life and family

Thomas Butts was born in 1757[1] to Thomas Butts and Hannah Witham.[2] He married Elizabeth Mary Cooper (1754–1825), who was a schoolmistress.[3] They lived at numer 9, Great Marlborough Street, Soho, London.[3] Their great-granddaughter was the modernist writer Mary Butts (1890–1937).

Career

Butts was Assistant Commissary of Musters, and chief clerk to the Commissary General of Musters.[1]

Butts and William Blake first met in about 1799, and he regularly advanced Blake money to pay for future work.[1] Blake taught engraving to Butts' son.[1] Blake created a number of miniatures of the Butts family during the period from about 1801 to 1809, and these are in the collection of the British Museum.[1] The patronage reduced from about 1816, although Butts purchased a set of the Job engravings in 1825, and in 1827 was a subscriber for the Dante engravings.[1]

References
  1. "Thomas Butts (Biographical details)". British Museum. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  2. http://bq.blakearchive.org/30.1.viscomi
  3. Johnson, Mary Lynn. "Newfound Particulars of Blake's Patrons, Thomas and Elizabeth Butts, 1767–1806". Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
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