{{short description|British print seller and businesswoman}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Jane Hogarth | honorific_suffix = | image = Mrs Jane Hogarth.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Hogarth by William Hogarth, c. 1750 | native_name_lang = | birth_name = Jane Thornhill | birth_date = c. 1709 | birth_place = | death_date = 13 November 1789 (aged c. 80) | death_place = [[Chiswick]], [[England]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] | spouse = {{marriage|[[William Hogarth]]|1729|1764|end=d.}} | father = [[James Thornhill]] | alma_mater = | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Jane Hogarth''' ({{Circa}} 1709 – 13 November 1789) was a British printseller and businesswoman<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.310187|first=Cristina S.|last=Martinez|title=Hogarth [née Thornhill], Jane}}</ref> who preserved the rights to the artwork of her husband, [[William Hogarth]], after his death. She successfully continued to produce and sell his work for many years.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Terry |first=Collen M. |title=PRESENCE IN PRINT: WILLIAM HOGARTH IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA|publisher=University of Delaware|citeseerx=10.1.1.926.8447 }}</ref>
==Early life and marriage== She was born Jane Thornhill around 1709,<ref>{{cite web |title=Mrs. Jane Hogarth Artist Royal Academy of Arts |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/jane-hogarth |website=www.royalacademy.org.uk}}</ref> the daughter of [[James Thornhill]], a prominent painter at the time, and his wife Judith.<ref name="Artist Info">{{Cite web|title=William Hogarth|url=https://ngabiographies.org/biographies/williamhogarth|access-date=2025-12-23|website=www.nga.gov via www.ngabiographies.org}}</ref><ref name="Thornhill">{{cite ODNB|id=27350|first=Tabitha|last=Barber|title=Thornhill, Sir James}}</ref> In 1729, she married [[William Hogarth]] at [[Paddington]], without her father's permission. After a period of difficulty with her father, in 1731, William moved in with her at her home in the Great Piazza on London's [[Covent Garden]].<ref name="Uglow"/><ref name="Artist Info"/><ref name="Thornhill"/>
As William Hogarth became more successful, the couple bought a second house in [[Chiswick]], where many prominent scholars and performers of the time lived.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Celebration of William Hogarth|publisher=William Hogarth Trust|year=2014}}</ref> They had no children, but were involved in Thomas Coram's [[Foundling Hospital]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A brush with kidding Billy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/a-brush-with-kidding-billy-1238837.html |work=The Independent |date=13 September 1997 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Hogarth">{{cite book |last1=Hogarth |first1=William |last2=Nichols |first2=John Bowyer |title=Anecdotes of William Hogarth|date=1833 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rz5fAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA225|language=en}}</ref>
In 1760, William Hogarth fell ill, eventually moving from Chiswick back to their Covent Garden house, with Jane staying behind. In 1764, William died, leaving her the print business in his will.<ref name=Terry/>
==Widow in business== [[File:View of Ranby's House MET DP825006.jpg|thumb|left|''View of Ranby's House'', published by Jane Hogarth 1781]] Following the death of her husband William, whom she outlived by 25 years, Jane Hogarth continued to sell his work.<ref name="ODNB"/> She guarded his reputation and kept his papers.<ref name="Paulson">{{cite book |last1=Paulson |first1=Ronald |title=Hogarth: Art and politics, 1750-1764 |date=1993 |publisher=Lutterworth Press |isbn=978-0-7188-2875-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2c7L7UvYYgoC&pg=PA531 |language=en}}</ref> Her control over William's [[Engraving|copperplates]] was conditional: she could not sell them without the permission of William's sister Anne Hogarth, and paid Anne an annuity from the sale of prints.<ref name="Paulson"/><ref name="ODNB"/> She began publishing editions of engravings in 1765, and saw to the longer term rights in 1767 by approaching parliament.<ref name="ODNB"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Deming |title=Aspects of the history of sculpture copyright in England |journal=The British Art Journal |date=2016 |volume=17 |issue=2 |page=64 |issn=1467-2006 |jstor=24913910}}</ref>
The protection under the [[Engraving Copyright Act 1734]] was expiring on William Hogarth's earlier works. Jane Hogarth ensured that she regained the protections of her husband's initial copyright.<ref name="ODNB"/> The bill{{which|date=February 2021}} of 29 June 1767 extended her rights from fourteen years to twenty years, giving her "the sole right and liberty of printing and reprinting all the said prints, etchings, and engravings, of the design and invention of the said William Hogarth, for and during the term of twenty years".<ref name="ODNB"/><ref name="Leeuw">{{cite book |last1=Leeuw |first1=Karl Maria Michael de |last2=Bergstra |first2=Jan |title=The History of Information Security: A Comprehensive Handbook |date=2007 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-055058-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQBrsonDp6cC&pg=PA96 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Brewer">{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=David A. |title=Making Hogarth Heritage |journal=Representations |date=2000 |issue=72 |pages=21–63 |doi=10.2307/2902907 |jstor=2902907 |issn=0734-6018}}</ref>
Hogarth produced prints and advertised them as authentic works of William Hogarth, emphasising their moral nature.<ref name="Hogarth"/><ref name="Uglow">{{cite book |last1=Uglow |first1=Jenny |title=William Hogarth: A Life and a World |date=2011 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-26665-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Twv6XOvoBFYC&pg=PA1417|language=en}}</ref> A cumulative tradition of commentary and biography was founded on the ''Lettres'' (1746) of the French [[Portrait miniature|miniaturist]] Jean André Rouquet, in London under [[George II of Great Britain|George II]], and anecdotes supplied by [[Horace Walpole]].<ref name="Brewer55">{{cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=David A. |title=Making Hogarth Heritage |journal=Representations |date=October 2000 |issue=72 |page=55 note 7 |doi=10.2307/2902907|jstor=2902907}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Rouquet, Jean André, or André |url=https://www.oxfordartonline.com/benezit/view/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.001.0001/acref-9780199773787-e-00156870 |website=Benezit Dictionary of Artists |year=2011 |language=en |doi=10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00156870 |isbn=978-0-19-977378-7 }}</ref> Jane Hogarth produced an edition with Rev. [[John Trusler]] titled ''Hogarth Moralized'' (1768). [[Bowdlerised]] versions appeared in the 19th century.<ref name="Uglow"/><ref name="Hogarth"/> She had strong objections <ref name="ODNB"/> to ''Biographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth'' (1781) by [[John Nichols (printer)|John Nichols]], who found Trusler "dull and languid".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hogarth |first1=William |title=Engravings by Hogarth |date=2013 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-31716-8 |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2tnCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |language=en}}</ref>
Printer [[Robert Sayer]] also had an "almost complete set of copies" of painter [[William Hogarth|William Hogarth's]] plates and sold prints at prices that undercut those of Jane Hogarth.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Griffiths |first1=Antony |title=A Checklist of Catalogues of British Print Publishers c. 1650-1830 |journal=Print Quarterly |date=1984 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=9–10 |jstor=41811970 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41811970 |access-date=15 May 2021 |issn=0265-8305}}</ref>
Hogarth also broadened her range. Bringing in [[John Keyse Sherwin]], Hogarth published ''The Politician'' in 1774, an engraving from a sketch supposed to have been made by William for his friend [[Ebenezer Forrest]], which became included with prints of her husband's works.<ref name="ODNB"/><ref name="Nichols">{{cite book |last1=Ireland |first1=John |last2=Nichols |first2=John Gough |title=Hogarth's Works with Life and Anecdotal Descriptions of his Pictures (Complete) |date=1874 |publisher=Library of Alexandria |isbn=978-1-4656-0804-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYdBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT44 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Politician Works of Art RA Collection Royal Academy of Arts |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/the-politician |website=www.royalacademy.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hogarth |first1=William |title=The works of William Hogarth, from the original plates restored by James Heath ... With the addition of many subjects not before collected; to which are prefixed, a biographical essay on the genius and productions of Hogarth, and explanations of the subjects of the plates, by John Nichols |date=1833 |publisher=Jones&Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p40vRnG4y6MC&pg=PA35-IA1 |language=en}}</ref> Hogarth also worked with [[Richard Livesay]]. They had a painting by William Hogarth turned into a print engraved by [[Francesco Bartolozzi]], sold as ''Shrimps!''.<ref name="ODNB"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Shrimps! : Works of Art RA Collection Royal Academy of Arts |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/shrimps-1 |website=www.royalacademy.org.uk}}</ref>
Eventually, as the sale of the prints lost value, Hogarth was given a pension by the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]].<ref name="ODNB"/><ref>{{cite book |title=William Hogarth: The Cockney's Mirror |url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks14/1402611h.html}}</ref>
==Death and legacy== [[File:William Hogarth's tomb.jpg|thumb|William and Jane Hogarth's tomb]] [[File:Hogarth sigismunda.JPG|thumb|''Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo'' by William Hogarth, for which Jane Hogarth was the model,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uglow |first1=Jennifer S. |title=Hogarth: A Life and a World |date=1997 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-16996-2 |page=612|language=en}}</ref> sold in 1790, to John Boydell<ref name="BM"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Uglow |first1=Jennifer S. |title=Hogarth: A Life and a World |date=1997 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-16996-2 |page=707|language=en}}</ref>]] Hogarth died on 13 November 1789 in [[Chiswick]].<ref name=Terry>{{Cite book|last=Terry|first=Colleen|title=Presence in print: William Hogarth in North America|year=2014}}</ref><ref name="Nichols"/>
Her estate passed to Mary Lewis, her cousin; who sold the rights to William Hogarth's copper plates to [[John Boydell]], for an annuity. Much of the remaining Hogarth collections, including ''[[Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo]]'' and works by James Thornhill, was put up for sale, with [[John Greenwood (artist)|John Greenwood]] as auctioneer, on 24 April 1790.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uglow |first1=Jennifer S. |title=Hogarth: A Life and a World |date=1997 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-16996-2 |pages=486 and 707 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="BM">{{cite journal |title=Mrs. Hogarth's Collection |journal=The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs |pages=237–239 |date=1944|volume=85 |issue=499 |jstor=869000}}</ref> [[John Ireland (biographer)|John Ireland]] bought papers from Mary Lewis, resulting in scholarly works, ''Hogarth Illustrated'' (1791, 2 vols.) and ''A Supplement to Hogarth Illustrated'', a biography (1798).<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=14447|first=Life|last=Page|title=Ireland, John (c.1742–1808)}}</ref>
Today the house in Chiswick is a museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hogarth |url=https://thelondonphile.com/tag/hogarth/ |website=thelondonphile |language=en}}</ref>
===Mary Lewis=== [[File:Mary lewis hogarth.jpg|thumb|left|Mary Lewis, portrait by William Hogarth]] Mary Lewis was companion to Jane Hogarth, a first cousin, and a member of the Hogarth household remembered in William Hogarth's will.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uglow |first1=Jennifer S. |title=Hogarth: A Life and a World |date=1997 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-16996-2 |pages=486, 680 and 695 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Melville">{{cite journal |last1=Melville |first1=Jennifer |title=A Journal of a Trip through Part of Flanders in 1726 by John Thornhill |journal=The Volume of the Walpole Society |date=2007 |volume=69 |pages=185–209 |issn=0141-0016|jstor=41830061}}</ref> She was also involved in the prints business, from 1764, with Jane and Anne Hogarth.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Uglow |first1=Jennifer S. |title=Hogarth: A Life and a World |date=1997 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-16996-2 |page=700|language=en}}</ref>
She was daughter of David Lewis who was [[harpist]] to George II and a sitter for William Hogarth, and died in 1808. The remaining Hogarth collections then went to Phil(l)ip Francis Hast (died 1823), a cousin, of the household of the future [[George IV]]. Eventually they passed, in 1939, to [[Aberdeen Art Gallery]].<ref name="Melville"/>
== References == {{Reflist}} {{Commons category}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hogarth, Jane}} [[Category:1710s births]] [[Category:1789 deaths]] [[Category:18th-century British businesspeople]] [[Category:18th-century British businesswomen]]