Thomas Butts | |
---|---|
Born | 1757 |
Died | 1845 |
Nationality | British |
Thomas Butts (1757–1845) was an English senior civil servant, and the leading patron to the artist and poet William Blake. [1]
Thomas Butts was born in 1757 [1] to Thomas Butts and Hannah Witham. [2] He married Elizabeth Mary Cooper (1754–1825), who was a schoolmistress. [3] They lived at number 9, Great Marlborough Street, Soho, London. [3] Their great-granddaughter was the modernist writer Mary Butts (1890–1937).
Butts was Assistant Commissary of Musters, and chief clerk to the Commissary General of Musters. [1]
Butts and William Blake first met in about 1799, and he regularly advanced Blake money to pay for future work. [1] Blake taught engraving to Butts' son. [1] Blake created a number of miniatures of the Butts family during the period from about 1801 to 1809, and these are in the collection of the British Museum. [1] The patronage reduced from about 1816, although Butts purchased a set of the Job engravings in 1825, and in 1827 was a subscriber for the Dante engravings. [1]