Wigs on the Green - Portrait Miniatures, Silhouettes & Portraits

Enquiries and orders: enquiries@wigsonthegreen.co.uk Images can be enlarged by clicking on them	\|\|\|

Item Ref. 3594

FREDERICK BUCK (1771-c1839)

This is a miniature portrait of a young lady believed to either Charlotte Goring Atkins, or her sister Henrietta. She is wearing a white muslin dress with a pleated bodice, short puffed sleeves, and a square neckline trimmed with Valenciennes lace, the waist tied with a blue satin sash. The tip of a gold pendant earring is just visible through the ringlets which frame her heart-shaped face. She is set against a sky background.

Watercolour on ivory set in a gilt-metal frame within a plaited hair surround and backed with blue glass.

Framed size: 3½ x 3" (90 x 75mm)

Price: £1350

The younger son of an Irish silversmith, Frederick Buck was a prolific and resourceful artist working mostly in his native Cork.

Item Ref. 2887

JOHN RUSSELL, RA (1745-1806)

A fine half-length portrait of a gentleman standing with his arms folded. He is wearing a blue double-breasted coat, a white waistcoat and a tied cravat. He has a powdered wig with a queue probably a pigtail. Powder from his wig has fallen on to his shoulder and the collar of his coat. Interestingly the portrait was taken just months before the introduction of the Hair Powder Tax which in effect killed off the fashion for wearing powdered wigs.

Watercolour on ivory, signed and dated on the obverse JR 1798. It is set in the original gold frame, the reverse with a plaited hair border and a gold RB monogram mounted on blue glass.

Framed size: 23/4 x 21/4" (72 x 57mm) + hanger

Price: £3,200

The son of a book- and printseller, John Russell was a pupil of the painter Francis Cotes and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1770. He was later appointed portrait painter to King George III. He was a passionate astronomer and a devout Methodist; indeed he apparently upset some of his sitters by trying to convert them. After 1790 Russell worked largely in Yorkshire where he is said to have produced his finest work. He died in 1806 of typhoid and is buried in Hull. Russell is widely known for his pastel portraits which are well represented in English galleries; he did not, however, paint many miniatures making this is a rare example.

Austrian School, family group of portrait miniatures

Item Ref. 3336

GERMAN-AUSTRIAN SCHOOL, 1807

Meet the Hoecker (Höcker) Family! This is a rare opportunity to acquire a charming family group of seven early 19th century portrait miniatures: father, mother, two sons and three daughters. They are all painted in profile to the left and set against wonderful interior or landscape backgrounds with tasselled drapes or trees and statuary. Each portrait is backed with a later paper label hand-painted with a laurel wreath encircling the sitter's initials in monogram and their age ranging from seven to thirty-nine years.

The mother wears a blue dress with a white lace fichu and pretty lace hat trimmed with blue ribbon. The three girls (aged ten to fifteen) are strikingly alike and wear similar empire-line dresses with a sprig of flowers tucked in at the waist, their hair swept up at the back and secured with a decorative comb. The eldest boy (sixteen years old) is dressed just like his father in a black tail-coat, patterned waistcoat and white stock whilst the youngest boy, just seven years old, has a green coat.

The portraits are all painted on ivory and are individually framed in (close matching) pressed brass frames. Excellent condition.

Framed sizes: from 2 x 15/8" (52 x 43mm) to 27/8 x 23/8" (73 x 60mm)

Price: £3,000

Item Ref. 2937

MANNER OF THOMAS PEAT

This is a portrait of a gentle-looking lady wearing a blue dress with a delicate lace fill-in and a pretty hat. Her powdered hair is arranged in stiff curls. The ribbon necklace tied at the front helps date the portrait to around 1785.

Watercolour on ivory set in a silver frame with a solid back.

Framed size: 17/8 x 1½" (47 x 38mm)

Price: £525

Item Ref. 3266 SCHOOL OF KNELLER, circa 1720 This is a finely-painted early 18th century portrait of a young lady wearing a blue over-dress with a white underslip. Her hair is worn long and falls over her shoulder. Oil on copper, set in the original turned wood frame. Framed size: 3¼ x 2½" (82 x 69mm) Price: £750