Mrs Bernard

Horace Hone regularly painted enamel copies of miniatures but this portrait has been painted from life using bright colours that make the portrait sparkle. Named on the counter-enamel as Mrs Bernard, she wears a sumptuous silk empire-line dress in saffron yellow with a black lace mantilla covering her hair. But it is her exquisite amethyst and pearl jewellery that is most striking. She even has a pinkie ring!

Enamel on copper signed on the counter enamel – Mrs Bernard / HHone ARA Pinx / from the Life / 1815 / London. The miniature is housed with convex glass in a gilt metal frame that is engraved reverse ‘Mrs Barnard / Died / Sept 28th 1836. Regrettably without a Christian name or even an initial added to the differing spelling of the surname, it has so far proved impossible to trace the sitter’s details.

There appears to a small area of touch-up to the bottom left of her shawl; there is also a small corner chip to the enamel bottom left (as shown) but this is more or less hidden by the frame.

Born in London, Horace Hone (1754-1825) attended the Royal Academy Schools in 1770, having already been taught miniature painting by his father, Nathaniel Hone. He established a studio in Dublin in 1782 attracting a distinguished clientele but was obliged to return to England when business fell away following the 1800 Act of Union. Hone continued to paint spending time in both London and Bath but had health issues. Upon his death in 1825 be bequeathed all his paintings and drawings to his wife Sophia Ursula, their only daughter having pre-deceased him.