George Cooke (1781-1834)
George Cooke was born in London, the son of a German confectioner. Aged 14, he was apprenticed to the engraver James Basire (1780-1802). On the conclusion of his apprenticeship, Cooke engraved plates for The Beauties of England and Wales, 1801-1815 and for John Pinkerton’s Voyages and Travels, 1811.
George produced three plates for The Thames, 1811, a publication by his brother, William Bernard Cooke. Subsequent to this they collaborated on Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England, produced between 1814 and 1826 and containing numerous prints based on original drawings by J M W Turner. In addition to his work after Turner, George produced engravings for Robert Surtees’s The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, 1816 and for the Dilettanti Society.
He was the father of artist Edward William Cooke RA (1811-1880).
Collections
British Museum, London
National Portrait Gallery, London
Royal Academy, London
Royal Collection Trust
Tate Gallery, London
Literature
Gray, B (1937), The English Print, Adam and Charles Black
Hind, A M (1963 reprint), A History of Engraving and Etching, Dover Publications
Mackenzie, I (1988), British Prints, Antique Collectors’ Club
Redgrave, S (1970 reprint), A Dictionary of Artists of the English School, Kingsmead Reprints
Williamson, G C Ed. (1904), Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, George Bell and Sons
George Cooke was born in London, the son of a German confectioner. Aged 14, he was apprenticed to the engraver James Basire (1780-1802). On the conclusion of his apprenticeship, Cooke engraved plates for The Beauties of England and Wales, 1801-1815 and for John Pinkerton’s Voyages and Travels, 1811.
George produced three plates for The Thames, 1811, a publication by his brother, William Bernard Cooke. Subsequent to this they collaborated on Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England, produced between 1814 and 1826 and containing numerous prints based on original drawings by J M W Turner. In addition to his work after Turner, George produced engravings for Robert Surtees’s The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, 1816 and for the Dilettanti Society.
He was the father of artist Edward William Cooke RA (1811-1880).
Collections
British Museum, London
National Portrait Gallery, London
Royal Academy, London
Royal Collection Trust
Tate Gallery, London
Literature
Gray, B (1937), The English Print, Adam and Charles Black
Hind, A M (1963 reprint), A History of Engraving and Etching, Dover Publications
Mackenzie, I (1988), British Prints, Antique Collectors’ Club
Redgrave, S (1970 reprint), A Dictionary of Artists of the English School, Kingsmead Reprints
Williamson, G C Ed. (1904), Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, George Bell and Sons
Our selection of antique prints after J M W Turner, including work by George Cooke can be viewed here.