Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Marchant, Nathaniel
MARCHANT, NATHANIEL (1739–1816), gem-engraver and medallist, was born in Sussex in 1739. He became a pupil of Edward Burch, R. A. [q. v.], and in 1766 was a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists. He went to Rome in 1773, and remained there till 1789, studying antique gems and sculpture. He sent impressions from ancient intaglios to the Royal Academy from 1781 to 1785, and was an exhibitor there till 1811. He was elected associate of the Royal Academy in 1791, and academician in 1809. He was also a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a member of the Academies at Stockholm and at Copenhagen. He was appointed assistant-engraver at the Royal Mint in 1797, and held the office till 1815, when he was superannuated (Rudding, Annals, i. 45; Numismatic Journal, ii. 18). The portrait of George III on the 3s. bank token was engraved by Marchant from a model taken by him from life. Marchant died in Somerset Place, London, in April 1816, aged 77. His books, which related chiefly to the fine arts, were sold by Cochrane in London on 13 and 14 Dec. 1816.
Marchant had a high and well-merited reputation as a gem-engraver. His productions are intaglios, and consist of portraits from the life, and of heads, figures, and groups in the antique style. King praises the delicacy of his work, but remarks that it was done with the aid of a powerful magnifier, and that consequently it is often too minute for the naked eye. Merchant's signature is 'Marchant' and 'Marchant F. Romee.' He published by subscription, in 1792, 'A Catalogue of one hundred Impressions from Gems engraved by Nathaniel Marchant,' London, 4to, to accompany a selection of casts of his intaglios. A number of his works are described in Raspe's 'Tassie Catalogue' (see the Index of Engravers). Various intaglios by him are in the British Museum, but many of his choicest pieces were made for the Marlborough cabinet, and among these may be mentioned his 'Hercules restoring Alcestis to Admetus,' a commission from the elector of Saxony, and a present from him to the Duke of Marlborough. The duke sometimes specially sent fine stones to Rome to be engraved by Marchant. The prince regent (George IV) appointed Marchant his engraver of gems. King mentions as one of his best performances an engraving on a brown sard of two female figures, one reclining on a sofa. For this Marchant is said to have received two hundred guineas.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; King's Antique Gems and Rings, i. 446-7; Nagler's Künstler-Lexikon; Gent. Mag. 1816, pt. i. p. 377; Marchant's Sale Cat. of Books, London, 1816, 8vo.]