Man About Town

With his puffed-up toupee, his ribbon-tied pigtail and his exuberantly frilled chemise, this gentleman has the airs of a dandy about him. The profile is neatly painted on a plaster base and resides in the original pressed brass frame backed with the artist’s trade label. The frame is glazed on both sides.

It was an eight-month stay by John Miers at her house in Liverpool in 1785 that prompted Mary Lightfoot to begin painting silhouettes. Her artistic career was, however, short-lived and her work failed to reach the high standard of her mentor’s.