Mrs Miller

Dated 1791, this half-length silhouette is striking for its costume detailing. The profile is reverse painted on flat glass with the details subsequently scratched out using a needle. The sitter, named on the reverse as Mrs Miller, wears a narrow-waisted gown with an embroidered bodice and ¾-length sleeves with stiff frills on the elbows. Her upswept hair is styled in a chignon and topped with a soft-crowned indoor cap trimmed with a double frill and ribbons.

The silhouette is backed with ivory silk and is housed in its original turned wood frame. The frame has an old crack (possibly as old as the silhouette itself) and old losses to the outside rim all of which just adds to the honest charm of the piece.

A bookseller by trade, John Jolliffe (1734-1804) was based in St James’ Street, London. It was claimed that he took ‘profiles with a candle better than anyone’ and indeed examples of his work have always and continue to be prized by collectors.