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| Enquiries and orders: enquiries@wigsonthegreen.co.uk Images can be enlarged by clicking on them |
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W. MERCER, circa 1835 This is a charming double silhouette of a mother and child attired in their Sunday best. The lady's dress has a pleated bodice and 'gigot' sleeves with a lace pèlerine covering her shoulders. Her pretty bonnet is high at the back to accommodate the high knot of her hair and is trimmed with pink flowers and ribbon. She is holding a large handkerchief in her right hand. The child (probably a little boy) is wearing a calf-length dress with frilled sleeves, along with little bootees and is holding a toy whip. The silhouette is cut out and extensively gilded with touches of watercolour used for the lady's dress, her handkerchief and her bonnet. It is signed along the bottom edge 'W. Mercer PV1'. Those last three letters are difficult to make out and even more difficult to make any sense of! The artist is unlisted - possibly someone in the family or a friend - but was nonetheless well skilled in the art of cutting and gilding profiles. The background card has some light age-browning and spotting and is slightly wrinkled on the left side. This is all less noticeable to the eye than the images suggest. The silhouette is presented in a period bird's eye maple frame with a gilt slip. Framed size: 173/8 x 137/8" (442 x 353mm) Price: £400 |
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EDWARD FOSTER (1762-1865) This is a most attractive silhouette of a young lady wearing a spotted Empire-line dress and heavy gold chain necklace. Her hair has been swept back and arranged in a plaited knot secured with a decorative comb with curls around her face. An indistinct pencil inscription on the back of the silhouette names her as Miss M/N? Penwarden. The silhouette is painted on card using black pigment mixed with gum arabic, a technique that places it early within Foster's career as he later favoured a 'red' ground. The gilding has been finely executed using the 'three-dot' technique - another typical Foster trait - on the dress. The profile is not signed. It is set in a reeded oak frame and, although this is unlikely to be the original frame, it is of the correct period and suits the silhouette perfectly. Framed size: 4¼ x 35/8" (107 x 92mm) Price: £215
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WILLIAM ALPORT, died 1831 This is a painted silhouette of a gentleman with a prominent nose wearing a black coat and tied cravat. The silhouette is painted on card and is housed in the original papier-mâché frame backed with an unbroken version of the rarely seen trade label for William Bullock, in whose museum Alport had a booth between 1806 and 1809. Framed size: 57/8 x 51/8" (158 x 131mm) S O L D !
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JOHN FIELD IN THE STUDIO OF JOHN MIERS, 1837 This is a finely painted silhouette of a teenage boy in a buttoned coat and shirt with a standing collar. An inscription on the reverse names the boy as William Frederick John Kaye aged 15 when the profile was painted in 1837. William was born in November 1822 to John and Eliza Kaye. He married Mary Jackson in 1857 and went on to become the Archdeacon of Lincoln. He died in his ninety-first year in 1913. The silhouette is painted on card and has a Miers studio trade label on the reverse. This small label was mainly for jewellery work between 1810 and the mid 1820s so the artist may have been using up old stock. The silhouette if set in a traditional papier-mâché frame with an acorn hanger. Excellent clean condition. Framed size: 51/8 x 43/8" (132 x 112mm) Price: £265
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CHARLES ROSENBERG (1745-1844) This early nineteenth century silhouette depicts a gentleman with a distinctive profile. He has a pigtail wig that is tied with a small bow and is wearing a frilled chemise. His coat is decorated with the breast star of the Order of the Garter. The Order of the Garter is the oldest and most prestigious order of chivalry in the United Kingdom and membership is granted only by the monarch. The silhouette is reverse painted on convex glass and backed with buff card. It is set in the original papier-mâché frame with a star hanger and backed with the artist's trade label no.8 printed ion blue paper which is believed to have been in use around 1808. Framed size: 5¼ x 4½" (133 x 115mm) Price: £375
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ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1820 This is an attractive Georgian silhouette of a lady wearing an Empire-line dress with a high waistline, the neckline edged with lace. She has a beaded necklace and a turban-style hat fastened under chin, that is high at the back to accommodate her tall hairstyle. The silhouette is painted on card and finely gilded. It is set in a traditional papier-mâché frame with an acorn hanger. The frame has been made by W. Hill of Birmingham and has his impressed marks of the Royal Crown on the reverse. The silhouette has a pale vertical tide-line on the right side and the frame has had a knock to one corner. These can be seen clearly on the enlarged image. Framed size: 6 x 5" (153 x 130mm) Price: £140 |
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NATHANIEL BERMINGHAM (Irish, 1712? - 1774) This is a rare 18th century intricately cut full-length portrait of a classical maiden stepping out in a dance in her dainty shoes and long flowing robes with flowers and ostrich feathers in her upswept hair. In her outstretched arms she is trailing a delicate garland of flowers. The portrait has possibly been inspired by a contemporary image of a classical muse and been cut in white paper apparently as a single piece without breaks using slashes on her dress to create a gentle sense of movement with small scrolls on the ribbons and fine stippling for a softer finish on her face and neck. The finest of the flowers in the garland can only be fully appreciated by the use of a glass. The portrait has been laid loosely on a sheet of paper that has been blackened by the artist on one side only. Pre-blackened paper did not become readily available until the 1820s. The cut-work is in remarkable condition. There is a break in the long ribbon running down from her hair and another at the top of the garland by her raised hand. It's possible too that there may be a tiny loss to the top edge of the flowers in her hair. Otherwise it is in perfect condition and very clean. The reverse side of the blackened paper is extensively browned and a little brittle round the edges but a piece of acid-free card has now been inserted to separate it from the wooden backing board in order to stabilise it. The portrait is housed behind old glass in a period oval giltwood frame with a piecrust edge. This is most likely the original frame as this style was in common use at the time especially for pastel profiles. The frame has warped slightly and has been re-gilded at some point. Literature: See British Silhouette Artists and their Work 1760-1860, page 288, illus. 295 for a similar cut portrait of Judge Jeffreys Framed size: 9 x 73/8" (227 x 190mm) S O L D !
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Item Ref. 3846 CHARLES HERVÉ II circa 1785-1866 This is an attractive full-length silhouette portrait of a schoolboy in profile to the left. He is wearing an Eton suit comprising a short jacket, trousers, buttoned waistcoat, white shirt and knotted cravat. His shoes have heels and pointed toes. The silhouette is cut and finely gilded and set against a watercolour wash backdrop. It is backed with the artist's stencilled signature and is set in a particularly handsome bird's eye maple veneer frame with a narrow gilt slip. The frame is also glazed on the reverse to show the stencil. Framed size: 11¾ x 97/8" (300 x 250mm) Price: £325
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Item Ref. 3156 JOHN MIERS (1758-1821) This is a quality 18th century jewellery silhouette of a gentleman wearing a cravat with lace ends, a style that was typical of the 1790s. He also has on a wig with a pigtail. The small profile is painted on ivory and is set in a handsome gold frame with an enamelled border on the front and a solid reverse. Framed Size: 1 x 5/8" (23 x 16mm) Price: £480
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Item Ref. 3681 ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1840 This is a small cut and gilded bust-length silhouette of a young lady in a wide-shouldered dress and a twisted gold necklace. Her hair is drawn back into a plaited knot with an unusual plaited loop of hair framing her face. The silhouette is in fine condition. It resides behind convex glass in a period bird's eye maple frame. Framed size: 6 x 5" (154 x 132mm) Price: £165 |
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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 |