Thomas Major

Thomas Major (1720 – 30 December 1799) was an English engraver. His early career was in Paris. In England, he became engraver to Frederick, Prince of Wales. He was the first engraver recognized by the Royal Academy of Arts, and was chief seal engraver to the king.

In Paris Le Chirurgien de campagne (1747) by Major, after David Teniers the Younger. Dedicated to the Marquis d'Argenson. Major studied drawing and etching under Hubert Gravelot. In 1745, he moved to Paris, where he associated with the English engravers Andrew Lawrence and John Ingram, and was a pupil of Jacques-Philippe Le Bas and Charles-Nicolas Cochin.

In October 1746, he was imprisoned in the Bastille with other Englishmen as a reprisal for the imprisonment of French and Irish soldiers after the Battle of Culloden. He was released through the intervention of the French foreign minister, the Marquis d'Argenson. On the death of Andrew Lawrence in 1747, Major purchased his copper plates.

In London The Chymist (1750) by Major, after David Teniers the Younger. He returned to England in 1748, and sold to Arthur Pond some prints he had brought from Paris. He acted as agent for Le Bas, importing prints. He married Dorothy, and they had sixteen children between 1752 and 1771.

He became chief seal engraver to the king, and was engraver to the Stamp Office from 1756 to 1797. When the Great Seal was stolen from the house of Lord Chancellor Edward Thurlow on 24 March 1784, Major, within twenty hours, provided a perfect temporary substitute, and afterwards executed one in silver that was used until the union with Ireland.

Major died at his home in Tavistock Row, Westminster, on 30 December 1799, and was buried at St Giles' Church, Camberwell.