WARD, Emily Elizabeth.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Six Views of the Most Important Towns, and Mining Districts upon the Table Land of Mexico. First edition of this attractive suite of views by the accomplished artist Emily Elizabeth Ward, sketched during a series of journeys inspecting mines across Mexico. We have traced four other copies in commerce in the last 50 years.Lady Emily Elizabeth Ward, neé Swinburne (1798-1882), grew up at the Swinburne seat, Capheaton, in Northumberland, gaining proficiency in the arts under the Irish painter William Mulready. In 1824 she married Sir Henry George Ward (1797-1860), who was made chargé d'affaires to Mexico the following year. The couple arrived in a volatile country, recently independent from the Spanish Empire after 11 years of civil war. The fledgling Mexican Republic viewed Britain as a potential important ally, which, between 1824 and 1825 invested as much as £10,000,000. As part of his diplomatic mission, Ward enthusiastically promoted the rescue of Mexico's abandoned or destroyed mines, with "a heartfelt conviction that this was an endeavour of mutual benefit. Mexico had the silver mines, Britain had the funds to get them working again and the technological know-how to resolve the perennial problem of flooding" (Fowler, p. 21). The detailed views show mines in Guadalaxara, Zacatecas, Sombrerete, Catorce, Valladolid, and Tlalpujahua. The engraver, John Pye (1782-1874), was praised by Turner for his skill in rendering subtle light effects. Copies are found both coloured and unc

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