Bespectacled

Expertly cut and finely gilded in 1840, this full-length silhouette shows a well-dressed gentleman wearing glasses. His frock-coat with its deep lapels with buttonholes is typical of the 1840s as is his Wellington style top hat. Note too the double watch chain attached to his waistcoat.

Set against a sepia watercolour wash, the silhouette is signed Frith / 1840 bottom left for Frederick Frith of the Royal Victoria Gallery. It is housed in the original rosewood frame with a gilt slip. The silhouette is in fine clean condition; the frame has an old corner chip top right but is otherwise also fine.

The Royal Victoria Gallery was a family-run business. Brothers Frederick and Henry Frith were both cutters of silhouettes whilst their father, John, having been a portrait artist, probably painted their colour profiles and their sister, Letitia, did much of the bronzing and gilding. Advertising as ‘PAPRYOTOMISTS to His Late as well as to her present Most Gracious Majesty’, they toured extensively and produced highly finished work. When the introduction of photography threatened their livelihood, the brothers embraced the new technology and opened a Photography Studio before emigrating to Australia.