Famed for his skills at using roulettes and other implements for creating textural effects which improved the speed at which mezzotint could be created. He was also a prominent exponent of Wilson Lowry's ruling machine, particularly for creating subtle sky effects on engraving plates. 1851 - a steel plate manufactured by John Sellers of Sheffield and shown at the Great Exhibition featured a demonstration of a finely ruled sky by Mottram. 1861-1877 - seven of his reproductive engravings were exhibited at the Royal Academy.