Ada Matilda Shrimpton Giles

Ada Matilda Shrimpton Giles began her artistic career as a painter, although few examples of her canvases survive. She likely provided the funds and possibly some of the motivation to develop the method of the relief etching watercolor process that she and her husband, William Giles, employed. Shrimpton and Giles bequeathed an important collection of plates, prints, and notes on the relief etching method to the Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Both artists' wills established an endowment to promote the art of color printmaking and acquiring modern prints for the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.