Thomas Butts | |
|---|---|
 Thomas Butts c.1801, watercolour on ivory by William Blake, in the British Museum | |
| Born | 1757 |
| Died | 1845 |
| Nationality | British |
Thomas Butts (1757–1845) was an English senior civil servant, and the leading patron to the artist and poet William Blake.[1]
Thomas Butts was born in 1757[1] to Thomas Butts and Hannah Witham.[2] He married Elizabeth Mary Cooper (1754–1825), who was a schoolmistress.[3] They lived at number 9, Great Marlborough Street, Soho, London.[3] Their great-granddaughter was the modernist writer Mary Butts (1890–1937).
Butts was Assistant Commissary of Musters, and chief clerk to the Commissary General of Musters.[1]
Butts and William Blake first met in about 1799, and he regularly advanced Blake money to pay for future work.[1] Blake taught engraving to Butts' son.[1] Blake created a number of miniatures of the Butts family during the period from about 1801 to 1809, and these are in the collection of the British Museum.[1] The patronage reduced from about 1816, although Butts purchased a set of the Job engravings in 1825, and in 1827 was a subscriber for the Dante engravings.[1]
