Seeing Red

Jacob Spornberg was one of almost twenty artists working in Bath during the 1790s as listed in the New Bath Guides. Bath was then at the height of its popularity as a spa resort with a steady influx of well-heeled visitors. Given that many of these artists specialised in painting portrait miniatures and/or profiles, it must have been difficult to stand out. But Spornberg was creative and had developed two distinctive styles of miniature profiles, one “executed in the Etruscan Manner” in vermilion red and black, the other “in cameo”, a more subtle style where a sepia portrait stands out against a dark background.

This is one of his Etruscan-style silhouettes, so-called as it is reminiscent of the red-figure Etruscan pottery invented at Athens about 530 BC. To create it an outline of the sitter and a decorative border were drawn on convex glass in thin black paint against a black ground and then the whole was coated in vermilion enamel creating a striking contrast. It was a style that was soon imitated, though to lesser effect, by his contemporary Charles Rosenberg.

Given their comparative rarity on the market, it seems fair to speculate that this new style was not overly popular though Spornberg continued to advertise it over the length of his career.

This example portrays a young gentleman in a frock-coat with angular lapels typical of the early 1790s, a flyaway knotted cravat and a pigtail wig. The painted border has a unique pattern not seen previously. The profile is in excellent unblemished condition and is backed with the paper that the artist tested his brush on whilst painting. It is presented in a traditional papier-mãché frame with an acorn hanger.

Born in Finland in 1768, Spornberg had settled in Bath by 1790 where his wife Rebecca ran a millinery shop in Milsom Street. Following her death in 1840, Spornberg emigrated to the USA to join his son.