Photos |
| The Fourdrinier Family Charles Fourdrinier; Henry Fourdrinier; Mary Fourdrinier; Henry Fourdrinier; John Rawson Fourdrinier; Jemima Fourdrinier; Sealy Fourdrinier; Minerva Manning
attributed to John Downman
Date: circa 1786, original is oil on copper
Measurements: 18 1/8 in. x 24 1/4 in. (460 mm x 615 mm)
On display at the National Portrait GalleryA Huguenot entrepreneur, Henry Fourdrinier senior (1730-99) was a wealthy paper-maker and wholesale stationer. He is shown seated in the middle of his family with his sons Henry junior (1766-1854), in red, and Sealy (1774-1847), standing, in green. In 1807, the brothers perfected a machine for aking continuous paper, of any dimension, at greatly increased speeds. At a Parliamentary hearing in 1837, Marc Isambard Brunel called the Fourdriniers' machine 'one of the most splendid inventions of the age'. The family are probably shown in their garden in Putney with a patriotic view of Windsor Castle added in the distance. The inscribed monumental urn commemorates their deceased wife and mother, Jemima (1730-81). |