Item C183 - Rustat, Tobias

William Nelson Gardiner (1766-1814) was born in Ireland and travelled to London in 1790, where he became an assistant to the artist Francesco Bartolozzi. He became famous for his engraved portraits which were sought after by various publishers; he returned to Dublin in 1800, where he died in 1814 after losing all his money. Numerous Gardiner prints survive in the V&A and National Portrait Gallery collections.