Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Knight, Charles (1743-1827?)
KNIGHT, CHARLES (1743–1827?), engraver, born in 1743, is sometimes stated to have been a pupil of F. Bartolozzi, R.A. [q. v.] He appears, however, to have practised stipple-engraving independently, and subsequently became quite as skilful as Bartolozzi himself. He was at first employed on somewhat indifferent prints for such works as Harding's ‘Shakespeare Illustrated,’ ‘Memoirs of Grammont,’ &c., but later obtained a good reputation, and was extensively employed on more important work. He engraved numerous subjects after H. W. Bunbury, Angelica Kauffmann, F. Wheatley, T. Stothard, J. H. Benwell, J. Hoppner, J. Northcote, J. R. Smith, and others, as well as many portraits after Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Thomas Lawrence, &c. Others are often credited with his work. His engraving of ‘The Spirit of a Child borne to Heaven,’ after W. Peters, is usually ascribed to W. Dickinson; and his fine full-length portrait of Elizabeth Farren, countess of Derby, has been ranked among the best productions of Bartolozzi. One C. Knight exhibited four miniatures at the Royal Academy between 1793 and 1816. Knight resided in 1781 in Berwick Street, Soho, in 1792 in Brompton, and later in Hammersmith, where he was still living in 1826, when he published, although aged 83, a portrait of the Rev. Thomas Stephen Attwood, minister of Hammersmith. He probably died soon after this. In 1803 Knight was one of the original governors of the abortive Society of Engravers. His daughter Martha also practised as an engraver.
[Dodd's manuscript History of English Engravers (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 33402); Redgrave's Dict. of Artists, p. 253; Leblanc's Manuel de l'Amateur d'Estampes; Tuer's Bartolozzi and his Works.]