Twisted and Curled

This painted and finely gilded silhouette shows a well-endowed lady in an empire-line dress accessorised with a twisted necklace. Her hair has been painstakingly curled secured and twisted into a knot with curls falling on to the nape of her neck. The small ribbon bow on her corsage is a signature trait of George Atkinson’s profiles.

In fine condition, the silhouette is set in its original papier-mâché frame with convex glass and a small acorn hanger.

George Atkinson was born in Lincoln around 1785, married a girl from Durham and fathered six children. As a young man he began his artistic career working out on the road in partnership with other artists before settling in Brighton where he worked solo for about ten years. By the time of the 1841 Census, he and his family were living at 1 London Street, Hackney. By then his children were aged between 8 and 24 with two of the boys having followed in their father’s footsteps by becoming artists.