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Item Ref. 3421

ENGLISH or IRISH SCHOOL, circa 1780

Presented here is an elegant pair of miniature pastel profiles of a mother and daughter. The mother is identified as Mrs Sydenham Singleton and she is wearing a blue gown. Her powdered hair is swept back with curls on her neck and is topped with a veiled head-dress. Her daughter is identified as Charity Spencer (née Singleton, 1757-1787) and she is wearing a grey dress trimmed with rows of pearls over a white fill-in. Her powdered hair is similarly swept up with a long tress draped over one shoulder and is decorated with more pearls.

The portraits are finely drawn in pastels and are reminiscent in all but size of the work of Irish pastellist Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1740-1808) whose output of society portraits represented a veritable who’s who of the day.

The portraits are set in matching brass-faced frames with verre églomise mounts. Fine condition.

Framed size: 6¾ x 5¾" (175 x 145mm)

Price: £1,200

Genealogical research has revealed that Sydenham Fowke (he later changed his name to Sydenham Singleton) was born in Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland. He represented Drogheda in the Irish House of Commons.

Georgian pastel profile portrait of a young lady

Georgian pastel profile portrait of a lady


Early 19th century watercolour portrait of a young gentleman in a tail-coat

Early 19th century watercolour portrait of a young gentleman in a tail-coat

Item Ref. 4284

RAFFAELE TRAJAIN, 1823

This striking half-length watercolour portrait features a confident young Regency gentleman with dark curls and narrow side-whiskers. He is wearing a blue-green tail-coat over a white waistcoat with a standing collar and a deep white stock decorated with a little gold and ruby frill pin. Just visible also is a seal hanging from his waistband.

The portait is painted in watercolour and is signed and dated 1823. Although clearly talented the artist does not appear to be listed and his origins are unknown. The portrait is set in a handsome burr maple frame with a gilt slip.

Framed size: 11 x 9" (285 x 232mm)

S O L D !


Item Ref. 4156

CHEVALIER J. O. C. GRANT, 1833

This small half-length portrait depicts a lady seated by a table upon which a map has been spread out. She is holding a sealed letter which she appears to have just written using the quill pen that stands on the table in a bottle of ink. The lady is wearing a vibrant green dress buckled at the waist and with a pleated bodice and demi-gigot sleeves that are puffed out to her elbow and then tight to her overly tint wrist. She has a pearl brooch on her corsage and a long gold guard chain that is tucked into her belt as well as a black choker necklace. Her hair is worn in a fashionable Apollo knot secured with a tortoiseshell comb, with tight ringlets framing her face.

The watercolour is signed and dated across the top of the map: Chevalier J. O. C. Grant, Delt. 1833. It is housed in the original ebonised frame.

Framed size: 7½ x 6" (190 x 155mm)

S O L D !

Signed watercolour portrait of a lady seated by a table with a map, 1833


James Sharples, pair of pastel portraits

James Sharples, pair of pastel portraits

Item Ref. 3790

JAMES SHARPLES (circa 1751-1811)

This is a very fine pair of half-length pastel portraits of a gentleman and a lady from the Ingilby Family of North Yorkshire. The gentleman has a powdered wig and is wearing a royal blue coat and a white stock. In the background can be seen the bare trunks of trees. His wife is wearing a brown dress with a white lace fill-in and a delicate lace shawl. Her close cap is trimmed with a bow and fastened under the chin.

The portraits are executed in pastels on blue-grey paper'. They are both signed on the backing board: J. Sharples, Grosvenor Place, Hyde Park corner, London. They are set in the original oval giltwood frames with pie-crust edging. Excellent condition.

Framed size: 13¼ x 11½" (335 x 293mm)
Provenance: Sleningford Grange, Ripon, North Yorkshire

Price: £2,000

James Sharples was born in Lancashire, England in the mid eighteenth century. He was sent to France to train for the priesthood but abandoned this to study art. He is believed to have been a pupil of Romney and exhibited first in Liverpool in 1774 and then at the Royal Academy between 1779 and 1785. From about 1793 he worked in Philadelphia and New York where he was in great demand. He completed pastel portraits within two hours charging $15 for a profile and $20 for a full face. He returned home to Bath in 1801 but subsequently went back to join his sons in New York in 1809 where he died two years later.


Item Ref. 4207

NIGHTINGALE, 1840

This is the first of three profile portraits featuring young gentlemen, each of them named. This gentleman is J. Babbington Burroughes and he is resplendent in his Wellington top hat, buttoned tail-coat and black stock.

Pencil heightened with watercolour on card, signed and dated 'Nightingale 1840'. It is set in a handsome bird's eye maple frame with a gilt slip.

Framed Size: 10 x 8" (254 x 203mm)

S O L D !

Profile portrait in pencil heightened with watercolour


18th century portrait

Item Ref. 2721

ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1790

This is a finely drawn late eighteenth century plumbago portrait of a young lady in a classical décolleté dress with a high drawstring bodice and long narrow sleeves. Her hair is worn in long loose curls under a 'half- handkerchief' hat.

The portrait is set in a beautiful wide frame (believed to be burr walnut) with great patina and a gilt slip. The sides of the frame are also veneered which is always a sign of a quality frame. Fine condition.

Framed size: 11½ x 10¼" (292 x 260mm)

Price: £350

 


Item Ref. 3716

ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1840

This is a delightful watercolour portrait of two children: Charles Ruddell-Todd and his sister Mary. Charles, very smart in his white trousers, buttoned waistcoat and blue coat, looks about ten years old. Mary, seated on an upholstered giltwood chair, is wearing her best dress trimmed with blue satin ribbons over white lace drawers. She has delicate satin slippers and fine black lace mittens. Next to her on the chair is her cosseted spaniel whilst Charles's little whippet dances round his feet demanding equal attention.

The portrait is watercolour on card and is unsigned. It is in excellent condition and is presented freshly mounted in a beautifully grained deep rosewood veneer frame. The frame has a small loss of veneer to one corner.

Framed size: 17¾ x 14¼" (423 x 360mm)

Price: £675

Charles and Mary were the children of Irish-born James Ruddell-Todd, MP for Honiton between 1832 and 1835. Charles was born around 1831 and was educated at Rugby School. He married his cousin Sophia Mary Campbell, the eldest daughter of Capt James Archibald Campbell of Inverneill & Ross. Charles died in 1901 at the age of 70 and is buried in Ryde. Mary Ruddell-Todd was born in 1834 and in 1858 she married George Fiott Day, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the Crimean War and one of the earliest recipients of the Victoria Cross. They had three daughters.

Charming watercolour of two named children with their pet dogs

Charming watercolour of two named children with their pet dogs


Francois Theodore Rochard, watercolour portrait of a lady signed and dated

Francois Theodore Rochard, watercolour portrait of a lady signed and dated

Item Ref. 3328

FRANÇOIS THÉODORE ROCHARD (1798-1858)

This is a beautiful three-quarter-length portrait of a young lady in a garden landscape wearing a pink silk dress, the bodice and skirt lavishly trimmed with flounces of fine black lace, and a pink rose at her corsage. Her long brown hair is arranged in ringlets adorned with pink roses and green leaves and she is holding a white lace handkerchief.

Watercolour on paper signed and dated in gold F. Rochard 3.49 (i.e. March 1849). It is housed in the original gilded wood frame with composition decoration.

Painting: 177/8 x 10¼" (405 x 260mm)
Framed size: 24¾ x 18½" (625 x 470mm)

Price: £2,000

Upon completion of his studies at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, French-born François Théodore Rochard joined his older brother Simon Jacques who was already well-established in London as a portrait artist. The brothers attracted a fashionable clientele which included royalty. François Théodore exhibited at the Royal Academy, Society of British Artists and New Watercolour Society, becoming a member of the latter in 1835. He remained in London even after his brother retired to Brussels in 1846 and continued to exhibit until three years before his death in Notting Hill.

Item Ref. 4208

NIGHTINGALE, 1840

This is the second of three profile portraits featuring young gentlemen, each of them named. This scholarly-looking gentleman is R. Ricardo. Sporting fashionable side-whiskers, he is dressed in an open double-breasted coat over a collared waistcoat and dark stock.

Pencil heightened with watercolour on card, signed with the artist's initials and dated 1840. It is set in a handsome bird's eye maple frame with a gilt slip.

Framed Size: 101/8 x 8¼" (256 x 210mm)

Price: £230

Profile portrait in pencil heightened with watercolour


Profile portrait in pencil heightened with watercolour

Item Ref. 4247

NIGHTINGALE, 1840

This is the final and the smallest of three profile portraits featuring young gentlemen, each of them named. This serious-looking gentleman is Arthur Lowther and he is wearing a buttoned tail-coat, black waistcoat and white stock.

Pencil heightened with watercolour on card, signed and dated 'Nightingale 1840'. It is set in a handsome bird's eye maple frame with a gilt slip.

Framed Size: 83/8 x 7" (214 x 180mm)

Price: £230


Item Ref. 2586

P. SKEOLAN, 1850

A small watercolour portrait of a sweet little girl, her hair in ringlets, wearing a pink dress with a pinched waist and a flounced skirt over white drawers edged with lace. She stands in an outdoor landscape with trees and is holding a hoop and whip.

Signed 'P. Skeolan/ 1850' and housed in a decorative giltwood frame.

Framed size: 9¼ x 7¾" (231 x 198mm)

Price: £410

P. Skeolan is listed in British Silhouette Artists and their Work 1760-1860 as an itinerant silhouettist who worked in the north of England. But in addition to cutting silhouettes, he was clearly a talented portrait artist.

Signed Victorian portrait of a young girl with a hoop

Signed Victorian portrait of a young girl with a hoop


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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