James Sharples (blacksmith)
Encyclopedia
James Sharples was an English blacksmith
and self-taught artist and engraver. He is best known for his work The Forge, which he painted and then engraved in his spare time.
Sharples was born in Wakefield
, West Yorkshire
, into a large family of thirteen. His father was a blacksmith, as were both of his grandfathers. Sharples had little formal education and began to work as a smithy-boy in an iron foundry
aged ten, later moving to work as a rivet
er in the engine shop where his father worked.
He discovered his artistic bent by helping the foreman to draw the designs for boilers on the workshop floor, and practised by copying lithographs and engraving
s in his spare time. Aged 16, he attended a drawing class at Bury Mechanics' Institution each week for three months. He learnt technique from John Burnet
's Practical Treatise on Painting, asking his family to help him to read it, and then John Flaxman
's Anatomical Principles and Brook Taylor
's Principles of Perspective. He made his own easel
and palette
to attempt oil painting
, walking the 18-mile round trip to Manchester
to buy paint. He sold his first successful painting, a copy of an engraving entitled Sheep-shearing, for half a crown
.
After completing a few other works, he began his masterwork, The Forge, a lively depiction of the Industrial Revolution in progress that showed the interior of a large workshop at an iron foundry. He completed the work after about three years, sometime around 1849. Encouraged by its reception, Sharples gave up his day job to paint full time, taking commissions to paint portraits, but found it difficult to make a living as an artist and returned to ironworking. Sharples took up a suggestion from a picture dealer in Manchester to have The Forge engraved, but was determined to teach himself the process and produce a steel engraving himself. After working in his spare time for about five years, often kept company in the evening by his wife's reading, he completed the task in 1859. Both the engraving and a mezzotint version became popular and sold well, but made Sharples little money. He painted one other large work, The Smithy, and was awarded a prize by the Amalgamated Society of Engineers
for creating an emblematic design. His "perseverance and industry", and determination to improve himself, were given as an example by Samuel Smiles
in his 1859 book Self-Help
, and a biography was published by local journalist Joseph Baron in 1893.
His works are perhaps unique examples of fine art produced by a working man in the mid-19th century, at a time when other artists were creating their impressions of labour, such as Ford Madox Brown
's painting Work
.
He married Sarah Moore on 7 April 1852. After her death in 1861, he married Sarah Ford on 20 June 1863. He had one son and one daughter with each of his wives. He died in Blackburn.
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
and self-taught artist and engraver. He is best known for his work The Forge, which he painted and then engraved in his spare time.
Sharples was born in Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, into a large family of thirteen. His father was a blacksmith, as were both of his grandfathers. Sharples had little formal education and began to work as a smithy-boy in an iron foundry
Iron Foundry
Factory: machine-music , Op. 19, commonly referred to as the Iron Foundry, is the most well-known work by Soviet composer Alexander Mosolov and a prime example of Soviet futurist music. It was composed between 1926 and 1927 as the first movement of the ballet suite...
aged ten, later moving to work as a rivet
Rivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked A rivet...
er in the engine shop where his father worked.
He discovered his artistic bent by helping the foreman to draw the designs for boilers on the workshop floor, and practised by copying lithographs and engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
s in his spare time. Aged 16, he attended a drawing class at Bury Mechanics' Institution each week for three months. He learnt technique from John Burnet
John Burnet (painter)
John Burnet was a Scottish engraver and painter.-Life:Son of the Surveyor-General of Excise of Scotland, Burnet was born either in Edinburgh in 1781 or in Fisherrow in 1784...
's Practical Treatise on Painting, asking his family to help him to read it, and then John Flaxman
John Flaxman
John Flaxman was an English sculptor and draughtsman.-Early life:He was born in York. His father was also named John, after an ancestor who, according to family tradition, had fought for Parliament at the Battle of Naseby, and afterwards settled as a carrier or farmer in Buckinghamshire...
's Anatomical Principles and Brook Taylor
Brook Taylor
Brook Taylor FRS was an English mathematician who is best known for Taylor's theorem and the Taylor series.- Life and work :...
's Principles of Perspective. He made his own easel
Easel
An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it.-Etymology:The word is an old Germanic synonym for donkey...
and palette
Palette (painting)
A palette , in the original sense of the word, is a rigid, flat surface on which a painter arranges and mixes paints. A palette is usually made of wood, plastic, ceramic, or other hard, inert, nonporous material, and can vary greatly in size and shape...
to attempt oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, walking the 18-mile round trip to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
to buy paint. He sold his first successful painting, a copy of an engraving entitled Sheep-shearing, for half a crown
Half crown (British coin)
The half crown was a denomination of British money worth half of a crown, equivalent to two and a half shillings , or one-eighth of a pound. The half crown was first issued in 1549, in the reign of Edward VI...
.
After completing a few other works, he began his masterwork, The Forge, a lively depiction of the Industrial Revolution in progress that showed the interior of a large workshop at an iron foundry. He completed the work after about three years, sometime around 1849. Encouraged by its reception, Sharples gave up his day job to paint full time, taking commissions to paint portraits, but found it difficult to make a living as an artist and returned to ironworking. Sharples took up a suggestion from a picture dealer in Manchester to have The Forge engraved, but was determined to teach himself the process and produce a steel engraving himself. After working in his spare time for about five years, often kept company in the evening by his wife's reading, he completed the task in 1859. Both the engraving and a mezzotint version became popular and sold well, but made Sharples little money. He painted one other large work, The Smithy, and was awarded a prize by the Amalgamated Society of Engineers
Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001.The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the "Old Mechanics" of 1826, which grew into the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1851...
for creating an emblematic design. His "perseverance and industry", and determination to improve himself, were given as an example by Samuel Smiles
Samuel Smiles
-Early life:Born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, the son of Samuel Smiles of Haddington and Janet Wilson of Dalkeith, Smiles was one of eleven surviving children. The family were strict Cameronians, though when Smiles grew up he was not one of them...
in his 1859 book Self-Help
Self-Help (book)
Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct was a book published in 1859 by Samuel Smiles. The second edition of 1866 added Perseverance to the subtitle. It has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism"....
, and a biography was published by local journalist Joseph Baron in 1893.
His works are perhaps unique examples of fine art produced by a working man in the mid-19th century, at a time when other artists were creating their impressions of labour, such as Ford Madox Brown
Ford Madox Brown
Ford Madox Brown was an English painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painting was Work...
's painting Work
Work (painting)
Work is a painting by Ford Madox Brown, which is generally considered to be his most important achievement. It attempts to portray, both literally and analytically, the totality of the Victorian social system and the transition from a rural to an urban economy...
.
He married Sarah Moore on 7 April 1852. After her death in 1861, he married Sarah Ford on 20 June 1863. He had one son and one daughter with each of his wives. He died in Blackburn.