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| Trade Card with pencil inscription in the shield. Held at Birmingham Archive. |
Thomas Hancock (1774-after 1830s) was an engraver, and the son of another well-known engraver, Robert Hancock.*1* His business was at 14 Congreve Street (just off from what is now Victoria Square) from about 1796, and he worked till the 1830s.
Hancock produced trade cards for other businesses and watch papers, which were small circles of paper placed inside watched to advertise the maker.
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| Watch paper, uncut. Birmingham Archive. |
Hancock also engraved plates for poetry books by James Bisset (such as The Patriotic Clarion), as well as Bisset's Magnificent Directory (1800) which was a poetic and visual tour of Birmingham. One of Hancock's additions depicted the print shop of Myles Swinney (plate F).
Hancock also produced a range of collectible prints which he sold in his shop on Congreve Street (below).
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| Congreve Street in about the 1850s. Birmingham Archive. Hancock's print shop was the same building as the Slater & Co. sewing machine shop. The back of the Town Hall is far right, and the church is the now demolished Christ Church. This is now Chamberlain Square, and the buildings were replaced by the Art Gallery. |
Other prints.
More trade cards.
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| Trade card produced for William Kertland. Birmingham Archive. |
Collectible prints.
A series of collectible prints produced in 1805 by Thomas Hancock, depicting iconography from four continents.
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| All four prints at the British Museum. |
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| Held at the British Museum. |
A collectible print with roundels including vignettes of 'The Archer' and 'The Archeress', "Publish'd by T. Hancock Engraver Congreve St. Birm.". Thomas Hancock opened his print shop on Congreve Street in about 1796 and the print was donated to the British Museum in 1818, so was produced between those dates. Stipple with brown ink.