Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Mottram, Charles
MOTTRAM, CHARLES (1807–1876), engraver, born on 9 April 1807, worked in line, in mezzotint, and in the mixed style. His principal plates in the line manner were 'The Rescue,' 'Uncle Tom and his Wife for Sale,' and 'The Challenge,' after Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. ; 'Boeufs Bretons,' after Eosa Bonheur ; and 'Duck Hunting,' after Friedrich Wilhelm Keyl. Among his mezzotint plates were 'The Morning before the Battle' and 'The Evening after the Battle,' after Thomas Jones Barker; 'Les Longs Eochers de Fontainebleau,' after Eosa Bonheur : 'Pilgrim Exiles' and 'The Belated Traveller,' after George Henry Boughton, A.E.A. ; 'The Shadow of the Cross,' after Philip Richard Morris, A.R. A. ; 'Pride and Humility,' after George Cole ; and 'The Ashdown Coursing Meeting,' after Stephen Pearce. His plates in the mixed style were the most numerous, and included 'The Scape Goat,' after William Holman Hunt; 'The Highland Shepherd's Home' and 'The Stag at Bay' (the smallest plate), after Sir Edwin Landseer ; 'The Last Judgment,' 'The Plains of Heaven,' and 'The Great Day of Wrath,' after John Martin ; 'Jerusalem in her Grandeur' and 'Jerusalem in her Fall,' after Henry C. Selous ; 'The Straits of Ballachulish ' and 'A Scottish Raid,' after Rosa Bonheur ; 'The Two Farewells,' after George H. Boughton; 'Corn Thrashing in Hungary,' after Otto von Thoren ; ' Crossing a Highland Loch,' after Jacob Thomson ; 'Abandoned' and 'In Danger,' a pair after Adolf Schreyer; 'A Charming Incident,' after Charles W. Nicholls, R.H.A.; and 'Out all Night,' after J. H. Beard. He engraved also several plates after Sir Edwin Landseer for the series of 'Her Majesty's Pets,' and a few portraits, one of which was a whole-length in mezzotint of Lord Napier of Magdala, after Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A.
Mottram's works were exhibited occasionally at the Royal Academy between 1861 and 1877. He died at 92 High Street, Camden Town, London, on 30 Aug. 1876.
[Royal Academy Exhibition Catalogues, 1861-1877 ; private information.]