Thomas Ashburton Picken

Thomas Ashburton Picken (c. 1818 – 23 January 1891), known professionally as T. Picken, was a Scottish-born watercolourist, engraver and lithographer working in England between around 1834 and 1875. He worked for the printing firm Day and Haghe (later Day & Son) for many years, and first came to notice for his lithograph of The Destruction of Both Houses of Parliament when he was only about 16 years old. Although there is no evidence that he travelled abroad, he produced many lithographs of foreign parts after paintings by other artists. He specialised in detailed images of landscape, architecture, events of war, and ships. He produced lithographs of SS Great Eastern and the laying of the Atlantic cable, and he illustrated books.

Picken's father was the Scots novelist Andrew Picken, and his brother Andrew was a lithographer who also trained with Day and Haghe. Picken ended his days as a Poor Brother at The London Charterhouse, alongside his brother, James Canning (or Channing) Picken. His lithographs are now in many collections, including the Royal Collection Trust, the Library of Congress collection and the Royal Academy collection.