Age Cannot Wither Her . . .

James Gillespie, the artist of this profile, painted in a variety of styles from plain black through monochrome profiles with detailed features to full colour profiles. This is an example of his plain black work from the 1810s with costume details skillfully added using gum arabic.

The sitter, a lady of mature years, certainly had a distinctive profile with her double chin and sharply-pointed nose. Her attire too would have challenged the artist, her dress with a multi-ruffed collar and braiding with buttons on the bodice and her turban style cap fastened under her chin(s!) with a frilly ribbon.

The silhouette is in fine condition and is housed in the original papier-mâché frame with a traditional acorn hanger.

James H. Gillespie was a prolific Anglo-American miniaturist. Born in 1793, he began painting before 1815. By 1820 he claimed to have completed 17,000 likenesses. Gillespie toured the market towns throughout the Midlands into Northern England and the Scottish Borders. At each location he painted on average 500 profiles in a variety of styles. He was particularly busy in the fast-growing town of Preston where he painted nearly 1,100 likenesses but was less popular in Daventry where he only received 160 commissions. Around 1825 Gillespie left the British Isles for a new life in Nova Scotia from where he worked his way down the east coast of America.