# Thomas Creswick artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/thomas-creswick/
Profile generated: 2026-05-09T10:12:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1811-02-05
- Death date: 1869-12-28
- Nationality: British, English
- Movements: Birmingham School of landscapists
- Common media: Oil painting, Etching, Steel engraving (as designer)

## About Thomas Creswick

Thomas Creswick (1811–1869) was a British landscape painter, illustrator, and etcher born in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He emerged as one of the most recognisable figures of the Birmingham School of landscapists, a group of Victorian-era artists who specialised in naturalistic depictions of the British countryside. Creswick first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1828 while still in his teens and went on to become an Associate of the Royal Academy (A.R.A.). Early in his career he produced drawings for steel-engraved book illustrations, contributing to published works by authors such as Oliver Goldsmith and Wordsworth. His mature output centred on pastoral landscapes featuring rivers, woodlands, and rural life, rendered with close attention to light and natural detail. Works by Creswick are held in major public collections including the Tate, confirming his established place in the canon of nineteenth-century British landscape painting.

## Common works and media

Creswick is most commonly encountered as an oil-on-canvas landscape painter depicting British rivers, woodland interiors, and pastoral scenes with figures. He also produced watercolours and bodycolours of similar subjects. As an illustrator, he designed images that were engraved on steel for gift books and literary editions; these reproductive prints appear frequently in the market. Etchings from his own hand are less common but documented. He is not known for sculpture, ceramics, or poster art.

## Market and appraisal context

Thomas Creswick's work appears regularly at auction, with over 500 recorded lots in available databases. Oil paintings of British rural landscapes form the core of his market, while watercolours and engraved book illustrations after his designs trade at lower price points. Key valuation factors include medium (oil on canvas versus works on paper or reproductive prints), subject matter, provenance, condition, and documented exhibition history. Works with Royal Academy exhibition records carry additional significance. Collectors should distinguish between original paintings and the widely circulated steel engravings based on his designs, which are substantially less valuable.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine structured artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction-house records, sale dates, realised prices, and comparable lot data when those records are available. For Thomas Creswick, identity data is grounded in records from the Tate, the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the Library of Congress Name Authority File, the RKD, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr93003004
- RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/19091
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/thomas-creswick-122
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4240293
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500032298
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/34724802/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Creswick