Portrait of Benjamin West

British mezzotint masters like Green, Watson, and Earlom represented the English manner of mezzotint. In England, mezzotint was finely honed and most often used to reproduce paintings; during this time before photography or lithography, mezzotint was valued for its ability to capture a painting’s tone as well as its linear composition. Mezzotint plates wear quickly, so early impressions like this one show the medium at its best. This print was made as a copy of a painting, probably at the request of the painter, George Watson, or the sitter, another painter, Benjamin West. Before the use of photography to copy paintings and other unique works, copyist printmakers served the function of documentation.