Mexican engraver of English birth. He established a reputation in England in the 1830s and 1840s for works such as Alfred Dividing the Loaf (1846), after Benjamin West, and his work for the Art Journal, including Clarissa Harlowe (1850), after Landseer. He was commissioned to take charge of the Professorship in Plate Engraving at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City. He arrived in Mexico in 1853 and remained there at least until 1858 according to his contract, which was signed on 2 April 1853. Periam was well thought of by his contemporaries, both as an artist and as a teacher, and through his technical expertise he helped bring about a revival of Mexican engraving after a long period of neglect. Two engravings by Periam can be seen in the collection of the Academia de San Carlos: The Refusal (c. 25 x 20 cm, 1856), which depicts a scene of gallantry, and The Flood (22 x 25 cm, 1857), after Francesco Coghetti. Such engravings enabled the reproduction and dissemination of works in the academy's collection by European masters.
