John Henry Bufford

Lithograph issued from Bufford's Print Publishing House, Boston, 1864

John Henry Bufford (1810-1870) was a lithographer in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts.

Biography

Bufford trained "in the Pendleton shop in Boston from 1829 to 1831."[1] According to one historian, Bufford's work as a lithographer represented "a mediocre sort of craftmanship at best. ...He had no very special skills as [an] original artist and gravitated to management."[2]

In 1835 he moved to New York, where he "worked independently for five years while accepting commissions from George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier."[1] Bufford returned to Boston in 1839, and became "chief artist" in the print shop owned by Benjamin W. Thayer (who had bought the Pendleton outfit)."[2]

By 1844, the shop's name changed to J.H. Bufford & Co. (1844–1851)."[2] By one assessment, "Bufford's firm produced lively, accomplished images in many forms, including sheet music, city views, marine views and landscapes, book illustrations, reproductions of paintings, commercial depictions of factories, and contemporary genre views; ... [and] lithographic portraits copied from daguerreotypes."[3] Artists who worked for Bufford included Francis D'Avignon and Leopold Grozelier.[3] Clients included music publisher William H. Oakes.

In the 1840s-1860s Bufford lived in Roxbury and worked on Washington Street:

After Bufford's death in 1870, his sons Frank G. Bufford and John Henry Bufford, Jr. continued the business.[8] By 1879, "J.H. Bufford's Sons, Manufacturing Publishers of Novelties in Fine Arts" worked from offices at 141-147 Franklin Street, Boston; and in 1881–1882 expanded the enterprise as far as New York and Chicago.[9]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 G.B. Baumgardner (1986). "Prints and printmakers of New York State, 1825-1940". |chapter= ignored (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 David Tatham (Fall 1971). "The Pendleton-Moore Shop: Lithographic Artists in Boston, 1825-1840". Old-Time New England 62.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "National Portrait Gallery". USA.
  4. Boston Directory. 1848
  5. Boston Directory. 1852.
  6. Boston Directory. 1857, 1858, 1862.
  7. Boston Commercial Directory. 1869.
  8. Boston Directory. 1873.
  9. Publishers Weekly. March 25, 1882. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Further reading

Images

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John H. Bufford.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to J. H. Bufford's Sons.