Thomas Ryder (1746 – 1810) was an English engraver active in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He was a pupil of the prominent engraver James Basire and, during his apprenticeship, exhibited drawings with the Society of Artists in 1766 and 1767. Ryder was also among the first cohort of students enrolled in the schools of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Ryder worked in both line engraving and stipple techniques, but he is chiefly remembered for his stipple prints, which are regarded as among the finest of their class. Notable works include:
- “The Captive” – an engraving after Joseph Wright of Derby.
- “The Politician” (1782) – a portrait of Benjamin Franklin after Stephen Elmer.
- “Vortigern and Rowena” (1802) – after Angelica Kauffman.
- “The Last Supper” – after Benjamin West.
- “The Murder of James I of Scotland” – after John Opie.
- “Prudence and Beauty” – after Angelica Kauffman.
- Nine plates for the large edition of John Boydell’s Shakespeare series.
He also produced a range of portrait engravings after artists such as Angelica Kauffman, Thomas Lawrence, William Beechey, and others, depicting figures like Anne Seymour Damer, Henry Bunbury, Sir William Watson, and Maria Linley. His plates were typically printed in brown ink, occasionally employing colour.
Ryder’s son, also named Thomas Ryder, followed his father’s profession; together they executed a whole‑length portrait of Queen Charlotte after William Beechey for the second volume of Boydell’s Shakespeare.
References
- Wikipedia, “Thomas Ryder (engraver)”. Retrieved via Jina AI extraction.
- Royal Academy of Arts, artist profile for Thomas Ryder.
