The Maroon Dress

The use of colour on a silhouette, especially when coupled with traditional gilding, always makes for an attractive profile. Its use though was no more than occasional and only a handful of British silhouette artists adopted the style. Amongst them was the Hubard Gallery that offered watercolour profiles priced between £1 1s and £5 5s. Although the Gallery was initially established to promote the precocious talents of the young James Hubard, its success led to the employment of several other artists all with their very individual styles of cutting and painting. These artists were never credited though as the profiles were all marketed under the Hubard Gallery banner.

This lady’s profile has been cut and then painted. The style of the dress – the bodice with its Gothic dip and the narrow cuffed sleeves with frills on the elbows – dates the silhouette to the 1840s. Her only ornaments are a brooch on her corsage and a gold clip in her hair.

The silhouette is presented in the original bird’s eye maple frame with a gilt slip. Both the silhouette and the frame are in excellent condition.