Wigs on the Green - Portrait Miniatures, Silhouettes & Portraits

Item Ref. 4274

JOHN COMERFORD (Irish, circa 1770-1832)

This is a finely painted portrait of Lady Eleanor Butler attired in a classic pale blue spotted dress with a round décolletage and a narrow pale pink waist sash. Her only adornment is a pair of gold hoop earrings.

Born in 1788, Eleanor was the second daughter of John Butler, 17th Earl of Ormonde and his wife Lady Anne Wandesford. She married Cornelius O'Callaghan, 1st Viscount Lismore of Shanbally Castle in 1808. Together they had four children before divorcing in 1828. Lady Eleanor died in Sorrento in 1859 and is buried in the English Cemetery at Naples.

Watercolour on ivory signed and extensively annotated on the reverse of the frame - Painted by Comerford Dublin/ 1802/ Lady Elinor Butler .... The portrait is set with a verre églomise mount in a papier-mâché frame.

Framed Size: 7¼ x 6" (176 x 154mm)
Provenance: By family descent

S O L D !

The son of an Irish flax-dresser, the young John Comerford won a place at the Dublin Society Drawing Schools. He painted numerous oil portraits to commission during his early career but it was the visit to Dublin in 1797 of the English miniaturist George Chinnery that ultimately led Comerford to paint to a smaller scale. His earliest exhibits of miniatures were critically well acclaimed and confirmed his place as one of the leading Irish miniaturists of his day.

Reference: John Comerford and the Portrait Miniature in Ireland c.1620-1850 / Paul Caffrey, Kilkenny Archaeological Society, 1999.

Item Ref. 4022 ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1830 This is a well-executed profile portrait of a young man wearing a tail-coat, a shirt with a standing collar and a striped stock. Pencil on card, unsigned. The drawing is set in a good papier-mâché frame with an elongated acorn hanger. Framed Size: 6¼ x 5¾" (160 x 146mm) S O L D !

Item Ref. 4268

ALBIN ROBERTS BURT (1793-1842)

This is a pair of profile miniatures painted in colour. The white-haired gentleman is wearing a brown coat and frilled chemise with a white stock. His wife is wearing a blue empire-line dress with a columnar neck. Her hair is a mass of brown curls.

The profiles are painted on card and are both signed AR Burt beneath the bust-line. They are alos both signed on the reverse and dated Bath 1812. And finally, just for good measure, they are each backed with the artist's trade card. The portraits are housed in matching papier-mâché frames with unusual anchor, rope and bugle hangers that normally denote a maritime connection.

Framed size: 5¼ x 4½" (133 x 114mm)

S O L D !

Born in Wales, Albin Roberts Burt first worked as an engraver. He then became an itinerant artist working in many English cities including bath, Oxford and London. In addition to coloured profiles he painted silhouettes as well as miniatures on ivory from 3 guineas and full-length portraits from 5 to 10 guineas. He also advertised himself as a teacher of drawing and miniature painting.

Item Ref. 2982

HUGH ROSS, (1800-1873)

An engaging portrait of Elizabeth Dent as a young child with blue eyes and a rosy complexion. She is wearing a traditional white dress with a frilled neckline and sashed waist. The painting is inscribed on the reverse with the sitter's details and signed: Painted by H. Ross / London.

Elizabeth was the only daughter of William Dent who established a prominent merchant shipping company in the Far East at the end of the 18th century. Elizabeth's three brothers took over the running of Dent's in the 1820s when the company was thriving. By 1867, however, the economic recession forced Dent's into liquidation.

Watercolour on ivory, set in the original travelling case with a gilt metal mount. Excellent condition.

Portrait: oval, 1¾ x 1½" (46 x 38mm)
Provenance: By family descent.

Price: £900

Hugh Ross's parents were both miniature painters so it was perhaps not unexpected that he, his older brother William and his sister Magdalena all became successful miniaturists. Hugh Ross exhibited at the Royal Academy 1814-1845 and was awarded several prizes by the Society of Arts.

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