Wigs on the Green - Portrait Miniatures, Silhouettes & Portraits

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Item Ref. 4322

ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1845

This is a charming double portrait of a young mother seated with her child. The lady has put on her most fashionable dress for the occasion and has added a striking cameo brooch at her neck and a long gold guard chain. She also has a plaited hair bracelet and a beaded bracelet as well several rings. Her copper-coloured dress has a pleated bodice and bell sleeves that are worn with white lace half sleeves underneath (known as engageantes). Her hair is arranged in long tight ringlets.

The child is very sweet with his (or her) strawberry blonde hair and a pretty dress trimmed with blue ribbon bows. Both mother and child are holding a posy of colourful flowers that draws in the eye of the viewer.

Watercolour on ivory housed in a traditional papier-mâché frame with a flower and leaf hanger. The side edge of the ivory is slightly visible due to normal shrinkage within the frame.

Framed size: 6 x 5" (150 x 125mm)

S O L D !

19th century miniature portrait of a young mother and child

Item Ref. 3788

MODEST SCHOOL, circa 1765-70

'Modest' in this case not only reflects the small size of this eighteenth century portrait but also the unassuming attire and restrained demeanour of the sitter. He appears to be wearing natural hair; before the introduction of the Hair Powder Tax in 1795, wigs were invariably powdered. He is dressed in a grey collarless coat over a scarlet waistcoat and white stock.

Watercolour on ivory set in the original clasp frame which would originally have been strung with a bracelet of coral beads or plaited hair to be worn round the wrist.

Size: 13/8 x 11/8" (35 x 28mm)

Price: £350

Item Ref. 4074

FREDERICK BUCK (1771- circa 1839)

Being small in size, this is an early portrait in Buck's prolific career. It depicts an officer from the 16th Foot (the Bedfordshire Regiment) wearing a red coat with yellow facings and silver braid. He also has a single silver epaulette. The number 16 is visible on each of his buttons and appears within a star on the belt-plate.

Watercolour on ivory housed in the original gold frame. There are minor dings to the reverse of the frame and an old inventory label. Also, most curiously when shaken something (akin to seed pearls) rattles about inside the frame. An intriguing mystery!

Painting size: 21/8 x 1¾" (55 x 45mm)

Price: £875

The younger son of an Irish silversmith, Frederick Buck was a prolific artist working mostly in his native Cork where he was in demand to paint keepsake portraits of the officers passing through the port on their way to the Napoleonic Wars.

Item Ref. 4068

ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1820

This is the first of two portraits of ladies that are clearly related, probably sisters. Sadly they are unnamed. This lady is wearing a high-waisted green dress with a frilled white pèlerine collar. Her auburn hair has been swept up in a knot secured with a tortoiseshell comb with curls framing her face. Her jewellery comprises amber drop earrings and an amber beaded necklace.

Although unsigned, this portrait is most likely the work of James H. Gillespie a profilic portrait artist who toured the provincial towns of the Midlands, northern England and the Scottish borders during the early 19th century before setting sail for Nova Scotia sometime during the late 1820s.

Watercolour on card, housed in a traditional papier-mâché frame with a leaf hanger.

Framed size: 5¾ x 5" (147 x 135mm)

Price: £200

Item Ref. 4069

ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1820

This is the second of two portraits of ladies that are clearly related, probably sisters. Sadly they are unnamed. This lady is wearing a high-waisted bright blue dress with a frilled white pèlerine collar. Her fair hair has been plaited and wound into a knot secured with a tortoiseshell comb matching the clasp holding her short curls. Like her sister, her jewellery comprises amber drop earrings and an amber beaded necklace.

Watercolour on card, housed in a traditional papier-mâché frame with a leaf hanger.

Framed size: 5¾ x 5" (147 x 135mm)

Price: £200

Item Ref. 4261

MRS ANNE MEE (circa 1770-1851)

This portrait shows a demure young lady with blue eyes and short brown curls. She is wearing a charcoal dress with a square décolletage and short sleeves with white flounces, known as mancherons, on the shoulders.This style feature dates the portrait to around 1817.

Watercolour on ivory set in a traditional papier-mâché frame with an emblems (rose, thistle and shamrock) hanger.

Portrait Size: 3¾ x 3" (95 x 76mm)
Framed Size: 6½ x 55/8" (167 x 144mm)

S O L D !

The daughter of a London portrait artist, Anne Mee (née Foldstone) assisted her father in his studio from an early age. She also had more formal training from George Romney. It was her father's early death though that led her to forge a career in miniature painting in order to support her mother and eight siblings. Throughout her career she enjoyed Royal patronage culminating in a commission from the Prince Regent, later George IV, to paint a series of portraits of the most beautiful society ladies of the day (a selection of these may be viewed at www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery/). Following her marriage to an Irish barrister, Mrs Mee had six children of her own. She continued to paint even though her husband 'consented to let her paint ladies only who were never to be attended [at the sittings] by gentlemen'. She exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1804 and 1837; further examples of her work can be viewed at the V&A Museum in London.

Item Ref. 3780

JOHN TAYLOR (1738-1838)

A historic ¾-length portrait of a gentleman, Charles Nicolas Cochin, seated at a small table with an open book. He is dressed in a frock-coat with cuffed sleeves, a buttoned waistcoat and breeches with tiny buttons running up from his knee. His wig is worn en queue with rolled curls ('buckles') over his ears.

Cochin (1715-1790) was a French engraver, designer, prolific writer and art critic. Whilst still in his early twenties he was employed by the young King Louis XV to make engravings to mark every birth, marriage, and funeral at the King's court. He significantly influenced the artistic taste of France during the eighteenth century and was honoured and rewarded by the King with a small pension. Following the death of Louis XV in 1774, howver, Cochin fell out of royal favour and lived in comparative poverty thereafter.

Plumbago on vellum laid on card, housed in the original turned pearwood frame.

Framed size: 7¼ x 5¾" (180 x 147)

Price: £675

The son of a London customs officer, John Taylor studied at the St Martin's Lane Academy and exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution between 1780 and 1838. He was in his 99th year when he died.

Item Ref. 4303

ENGLISH SCHOOL circa 1800

Presented here is a delightful eighteenth century miniature of a child, probably a little girl. She is wearing a simple white dress with a blue ribbon sash on the waist and narrow sleeves. Her short brown hair is topped with a pretty circlet of pink and white flowers with foliage.

Watercolour on ivory set in the original gold bracelet clasp frame that is engraved on the reverse with the child's initials and age - 'E. G. Aged 3 years'. Excellent condition.

Portarit size: 13/8 x 11/8" (36 x 29mm)

Price: £850

Item Ref. 4196

ENGLISH SCHOOL, 1820

This is a particularly personal and appealing miniature showing a mature lady in a blue Empire-line dress trimmed with fine lace and worn with a white ruff collar fill-in with a small gold brooch on her corsage. Her cap is tied under the chin and is decorated at the front with tiny white flowers. Over her shoulders she has a delicate lace shawl.

The portrait is set within an unusual papier-mâché frame and surrounded by four inset roundels each glazed to reveal plaited hair surmounted with a gilt monogram. The colour of the hair pieces range from light blonde to mid-brown and are probably love tokens from the lady's children. The reverse side of the frame is backed with old leather and has a hinged door fastened with a C clasp. Upon opening, a thick plaited lock of the lady's dark brown hair is revealed. The date 1820 has been scratched into the leather.

Watercolour on ivory. The ivory panel has bowed and so does not lie flat within the frame. There is also a tiny spot of paint loss to the right of her face (as can be seen on the image). The original hanging ring has been replaced.

Provenance: Family descent within the Soper-Rackham family (William Soper married illustrator Arthur Rackham's daughter)
Framed size: 63/8 x 5¾" (161 x 146mm)

Price: £475

Miniature roundel containing woven hair

Item Ref. 2871

ENGLISH SCHOOL circa 1800

This is a sweet little portrait of a very young child wearing a white lawn dress and cute little red shoes seated in a garden landscape and holding a posy of colourful flowers. Sadly, we don't know the child's name.

Watercolour on card, unsigned but backed with an interesting trade card for Mr Clementi of Longman, Clementi & Co, Music Sellers to their Majesties, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and all the Royal Family. The painting is housed in a narrow veneered frame with ebonised edges. It is also glazed on the reverse to show the 19th century trade card.

Framed size: 4½ x 3¼" (115 x 83mm)

Price: £275

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Cynthia McKinley
Wigs on the Green Fine Art, York
Tel. +44 (0)1904 794711 Mobile: 07962 257915
Email: enquiries@wigsonthegreen.co.uk