AN exhibition of a 'world-famous' engraver from Northumberland has opened in China - marking the 270th anniversary of the artist's birth.

Thomas Bewick, who lived from 1753 to 1828, was born at Cherryburn, a house in the village of Mickley which is now managed by The National Trust.

A wood engraver and natural history author, Bewick is celebrated as an influential artist worldwide, best known for his A History of British Birds and illustrations of Aesop's Fables.

He was among the earliest wood engravers to cut upon the end of the wood instead of along it, and he invented the technique known as 'white line' wood engraving.

The anniversary was celebrated at the Heilongjiang Museum of Printmaking in China, with a new exhibition opened by artist-in-residence Weimin.

The exhibition, called The World in the Palm of Your Hand, features a collection of Bewick's wood engravings. 

Weimin is doing a series of talks about British wood engraving to coincide with the exhibition.

He said: "I feel excited to introduce such a jewel of British art to Chinese people, and I feel fortunate to be supported by so many individuals and organisations.

"In the history of art, it is very rare that an art form is so closely associated with an individual artist as that of wood engraving and Thomas Bewick, who has been regarded as the 'father of wood engraving' and probably the most prolific and innovative wood engraver of all time.

"His white-line engraving techniques became the motive of the revival of relief printing in the West, and his legacy continues."

A member of The Bewick Society, Ann Berresford, said Bewick was a 'world-famous painter of birds', who engraved all kinds of materials from swords to cement and glass.

"I'm appalled at how little known he is when he was world-famous at the time. It seems dreadful he isn't better known in our area.

"I feel people who are famous and born here aren't appreciated," she said.

The Bewick Society promotes the life and work of Thomas Bewick and related subjects, especially with regard to wood engraving. The Society publishes a journal called the Cherryburn Times.