Abraham Blooteling

Abraham Blooteling (or Bloteling) was a Dutch designer and engraver.

He was born at Amsterdam. From the style of his etchings it is likely that he was a pupil of the Visschers. Following the French incursions into the Netherlands in 1672, he went to England, where he met with some success, but only stayed for two or three years.

Blooteling produced a large number of etchings, some line engravings, and also worked in mezzotint, a technique he is known to have adopted by 1671. He has sometimes been credited with the invention of the "rocker" as a tool for the preparation of mezzotint plates, and with introducing the technique into England.

In 1685 he published the collection of gems of Leonardo Agostini, etched by himself. He sometimes signed his plates with his name at length, and sometimes with a monogram, composed of the letters 'A' and 'B'. Bloteling was a bachelor and a friend of Gerard de Lairesse, who also lived on Prinsengracht.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023