James Stow
(circa 1770-in or after 1823), EngraverArtist associated with 29 portraits
The son of a poor labourer, James Stow showed such an early aptitude for art that he was apprenticed as a teenager to the famous line engraver, William Woollett. After Woollett's death in 1785, he completed his apprenticeship with William Sharp. By 1790, James Stow was creating his own engravings and was so highly regarded that he began receiving some of the most important commissions of the day. These included works for John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery and for Robert Bowyer's Historic Gallery, which depicted images based upon important episodes in British history. Stow is said to have fallen into dissipated habits, and he died in poverty.
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