John Dean

British artist and engraver.  "John Dean is stated to have been born about 1750; to have been a pupil of Valentine Green; and to have died in London in 1798.  His prints are dated from 1776 to 1789, from three successive addresses in Soho; in the last of these a fire occurred which destroyed nearly all his plates and stock of prints.  

 The character of his work is delicacy of execution, carried to such an extent that, to a superficial observer, his prints seem faint.  They are, however, most clear and artistic; there is nothing in them to corroborate his being a pupil of Green's; but they show a connection with J. Walker, and it is worthy of remark, that Dean and Walker have been most successful in their renderings of the exquisite paintings of Romney.

 Dean engraved many subject pieces after Reynolds, Hoppner, Morland, and others; but they cannot be distinctly characterised as portraits, although some may possibly be so." - British Mezzotint Portraits, 1884.