Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Watt, James Henry
WATT, JAMES HENRY (1799–1867), line engraver, was born in London in 1799 and, at the age of eighteen, became a pupil of Charles Heath (1785–1848) [q. v.] He engraved many beautiful vignettes for the ‘Amulet,’ ‘Literary Souvenir,’ and similar productions from designs by Robert Smirke, Richard Westall, and others; also several plates for the official publication ‘Ancient Marbles in the British Museum.’ Of his larger works, which are all executed in pure line on copper, with much taste and power, the most important are: ‘The Flitch of Bacon,’ after Stothard, 1832; ‘May Day in the Time of Queen Elizabeth,’ after Leslie, 1836; ‘Highland Drovers' Departure,’ and ‘Courtyard in the Olden Time,’ after E. Landseer; and ‘Christ Blessing Little Children,’ after Eastlake, 1859. Watt died in London on 18 May 1867.
[Art Journal, 1867; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Gent. Mag. 1867, ii. 116.]