Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bossam, John

by no contributor recorded

BOSSAM, JOHN (fl. 1550), painter, is mentioned by Nicholas Hilliard in a manuscript quioted by Vertue as 'that most rare English drawer of story works in black and white,' and as 'worthy to have been sergeant-painter to any king or emperor.' His poverty prevented him doing much in colours, and latterly he found painting so unremunerative that he gave it 'clean over,' On the accession of Elizabeth he became a reading minister. According to Walpole, Vertue never discovered any of his works.

[Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting (Dallaway), i. 136-7.]