Dr Richard Huntley

Reverse-painted on convex glass, this silhouette depicts a gentleman wearing a coat with large buttons over a frilled chemise and knotted necktie. A partially obscured inscription on the reverse names the sitter as ‘Richard Huntley, son of Richard & Sarah Huntley b. 1773 at Montreal, North America died ???? at New York’.

Huntley’s parents, Richard and Sarah, emigrated from Newcastle upon Tyne to Montreal where Richard Jun. was born in 1773. Like his father and grandfathers before him, Richard Jun. practised as a physician. He married Susan, a local lady from Montreal, and at some point they moved to Staten Island where Richard died in 1825. It was during a visit to England around 1805 to 1810 that Richard sat for this profile perhaps prompted by a request from his English relatives for a lasting likeness of their American cousin.

In good condition, the silhouette is backed with card and resides in its original papier-mâché frame with a star hanger backed with the artist’s trade label.

Austrian-born, Charles Rosenberg (1745-1844) is thought to have come to England in 1761 as a fourteen year old page to Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz when she arrived to marry King George III. As a favourite of the King’s, Rosenberg was promoted from page to King’s Messenger and this connection likely explains why he enjoyed royal and aristocratic patronage throughout his artistic career. In 1816 he was invited, along with his son, to paint a likeness of Princess Charlotte a few day’s prior to her marriage. Rosenberg settled in Bath marrying Elizabeth Woolley at Bath Abbey in September 1790. Living close to the fashionable ‘Walks’ and Assembly Rooms, Rosenberg became one of the most successful silhouettists of the period. He also offered drawing lessons for complete beginners.