John Ingleby Watercolours

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This collection of watercolours illustrates views in north Wales. Ingleby's achievement is best seen in his little townscapes where his eye for detail often gives us unique records of urban life in the north. His pictures are characteristically evenly coloured in a light transparent watercolour.

John Ingleby (1749-1808)

John Ingleby was a native of Halkin in Flintshire. He was a topographical artist who specialised in producing small watercolour views which were ideal as illustrations for the antiquarian studies of Thomas Pennant (1726-1798). He died in 1808 in his home village and the church records note his profession as a limner. Limner was a title given to craftsmen who worked on a small scale, perhaps involved with miniatures, and denotes an artist craftsman established in his reputation.

Working for Thomas Pennant

Thomas Pennant, an energetic innovator, employed Ingleby on a commission basis to copy certain images. He worked mainly on small commissions such as copying coats of arms. There is documentary evidence testifying to Pennant appreciating Ingleby's artistic ability from 1780. However, at present, extant dated works begin in 1794 which was quite late in Pennant's career, and there may well be a quantity of early work yet to come into the care of public collections.

Ingleby was paid per drawing, a system which had been in place for employing craftsmen over many centuries. This was common practice amongst artists who worked on monuments, wall paintings and official documents and banners. The artist would be given a fee based upon the quantity of his work not the quality or subject. This stands as an interesting contrast to the terms of employment of his contemporary and colleague, Moses Griffith (1747-1819), who was also under the patronage of Pennant but was employed full-time as an artist and given considerable status and freedom.

Artist-craftsman

Ingleby was an example of an artist whose career was solely determined by the local population. He did not exhibit his work, but rather undertook the commissions as would a craftsman, completing the task according to instructions.

Further reading

• Paul Joyner. Artists in Wales c.1740-c.1851. Aberystwyth : National Library of Wales, 1997.

Interesting links

• Journey to Snowdon by Thomas Pennant.