Authors

Robert Strange

Scottish 1721 - 1792

Sir Robert Strange’s talents as an engraver were realised early on, and at the age of 14 he was apprenticed to Mr. Richard Cooper, a line engraver of Edinburgh. By the age of 20 he had opened his studio in Edinburgh.

His Jacobite sympathies were strengthened by his links to the Lumsden family, meeting Isabella in 1743/44 he quickly fell in love. Furthermore, her brother, Andrew, would become Prince Charles’s private secretary and it was their influence that persuaded him to volunteer for the Prince’s army, in the Lifeguards regiment. Strange was present for both the Battle of Prestonpans and the Battle of Falkirk.

He was 23 years of age at the time of Culloden and was present for the fateful battle. Culloden was not to have the same outcome as Prestonpans and Falkirk, and many were forced into hiding, some fled to the Continent just as Prince Charles would do.

During this uneasy time, he was able to sell miniature paintings of the Jacobite leaders of the ’45 to those supporters who were still around and he remained in Edinburgh until September 1748. Additionally, over the course of two personal meetings in April, Strange was directed by the Prince to create the engraving plates for a set of banknotes. Strange was an obvious choice for the engraving. As an ardent Jacobite he is known to have engraved the fabled Jacobite ‘Amen Glasses’ and is believed to have produced printed and hand-coloured fans for the ladies.

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AFTER SIR ROBERT STRANGE

A UNIQUELY PRESENTED JACOBITE BANKNOTE PRINT

In 2021, we were pleased to sell a print taken from the original 1746 copper plate engraved by Robert Strange, showing four banknotes one penny, two pence, three pence and six pence denominations, with four others left blank

Feeling the need to improve and develop his art, and perhaps seek new opportunities, he moved with his family to France in late 1748. He spent several months in Rouen studying drawing and then went to Paris to study fine line-engraving under the French master, Le Bas. Although voluntary, Strange’s exile proved to be beyond beneficial, first travelling to Rouen and then Paris he honed his skills exponentially. London and Italy were to follow with important commissions for his engraving. His reputation allowed him to return to London where he eventually won the favour of King George III.

Strange’s depiction of Charles Edward Stuart is among the most iconic. He is an artist synonymous with Jacobite portraiture and his image is a very familiar view of the Prince, as Strange had captured his likeness in both a mezzotint and an engraving. His work was widely distributed following the rebellion of 1745, and became the most utilised basis for portrait copies right up until 1760. At first the copies were drawn directly from the originals with only minor additions or subtractions, but later copies are clearly copies of copies and more visually distant from the original.

The story of Robert Strange is remarkable, a self-exiled Jacobite, his story is truly incredible only forty years after the defeat he is rewarded by the Hanoverian monarch with a knighthood in 1787.