His Royal Highness the Duke of York an engraving by William Fry and convict engraver Edmund Edgar Bult inscribed 'His Royal Highness the Duke of York' dedicated to the British army, as their Commander in Chief by their Humble & Obedient Serv.ts. 43 x 32.5 cm note: When convict Edmund Edgar Bult arrived in Sydney in September 1826 on the Marquis of Huntley his services were immediately snapped up by leading colonial artist Augustus Earle. The artist had a new lithographic press and a publishing project that required a printmaker's skills. Bult was an engraver and miniature painter who was 'Very clever in his profession'. Bult's training meant that he was lucky in the lottery of convict assignment. He May also have had some personal charm. We know that he was a young man 'Of elegant appearance', aged 22 or 23 when convicted of robbery at London's old Bailey in September 1825 and sentenced to death. Although he said his name was Edmund Edgar, witnesses came forward at his committal hearing to testify that his real surname was Bult and that his connections were respectable. The Duke of York was one of those connections who successfully petitioned for a mitigation of his sentence to transportation for life. Edmund Edgar Bult is one of Australia's best known Colonial convict artists and engravers.