John Payne (engraver)

[3] George Vertue wrote on the hearsay of John Sturt, another engraver, that Payne was a wastrel who loved drink more than work and was not reliable.

For example, he alleges Payne had neglected to take up an invitation to attend the court of Charles I where he was to be offered the position of royal engraver.

His chief work is the large engraving, done on two plates, of the great ship Sovereign of the Seas, built by Peter Pett at Deptford in 1637.

John Evelyn in his Sculptura extols this engraving, as well as Payne's portraits of Dr. Alabaster, Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, and others.

Among other portraits engraved by Payne were those of Bishop Joseph Hall, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, Sir Edward Coke, Hobson the Carrier, Sir James Ley, Christian of Brunswick, &c., and among the title-pages those to The Works of John Boys, D.D., 1629, and to Gerarde's Herball, 1633.