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2023-3, Print
George Beacher Trade Card
2023-3, Print

George Beacher Trade Card

Dateca. 1740
Printer George Beacher
Engraver Jacob Bonneau (fl. ca. 1740 - 1786)
OriginEngland, London
MediumEtching and line engraving on laid paper
DimensionsOverall: 9 1/4 × 7 1/4in. (23.5 × 18.4cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund
Object number2023-3
DescriptionLower text reads: "George Beacher Copper-Plate-Printer/ at the Bible and Crown in Drury Lane facing Long Acre/ LONDON/ Carefully Prints all manner of Copper Plates/ For Printsellers Booksellers Stationers &c/ Tickets for Balls, Plays, Funerals &"
Label TextThis trade card advertised the business of copper-plate-printer George Beacher who operated from the Bible and Crown in Drury Land facing Long Acre in the 1740s. The printer works the rolling press at center while a man inspects a print. Prints dry on a line above. A brazier and inking table are set up by the window. Three bales of paper labeled "Imperial," "Royal," and "Atlas" are piled in the foreground. Another man walks up the stairs holding a bale on his head. The scene is surrounded by an elaborate rococo frame. At the center of the pediment is a bible surmounted by a crown, representing the shops name: "The Bible and Crown." Beacher advertised that he printed "all manner of Copper Plates" including "Tickets for Balls, Plays, Funerals."