Tennants Auctioneers will sell by auction the remarkable Redpath Collection of over 125 “silhouette” miniature portraits of the Georgian and early Victorian period in their Spring Sale 2-4 April 2009.
The collection includes examples by some of the most prestigious artists, such as John and William Miers of Leeds, and John Field – who brilliantly caught the fashions of the period. Cravats held the head unbearably high, while wigs were heavy, unsanitary and hot. Women squeezed themselves into grotesquely tight corsets and bedecked themselves in irritatingly fussy lace.
Traditionally known as “silhouettes” these black images were more correctly known as “shades” or shadow portraits or miniature profiles. The name silhouette originated in the surname of Etienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), Controller-General of France. He was well known for being “tight” on expenditure, so tight that he was eventually dismissed from office. The phrase à la silhouette come to mean on the cheap. A “shade”, compared with a portrait miniature, was done “cheaply”. It was not until 1835 that the word silhouette generally came into use. However, by the mid 19th century the introduction of photography greatly reduced the demand for silhouettes, and this art of cutting and painting began to die out.
The rise in popularity of profile portraits was partly due to a belief that in the human profile lay the key to individual “character”. We now know this concept was nonsense – but at the time proved a serious study and irresistible to the general public’s imagination. John Casper Lavater’s Essays on the Physiognomy was translated into English in 1794. He described physiognomy as the relation between the visible surface and the invisible spirit. In typical “enlightenment” style, he pigeon-holed various types of persons, from fashionable folk to felons.
Profile portraits, particularly of monarchs, had appeared on snuffboxes in the early 18th century, and also in wax, but it was Josiah Wedgwood I who anticipated the fashion by producing solid or jasper dip pottery plaques depicting profile portraits of the illustrious moderns of the age, such as Marie Antoinette. In the early 18th century two methods of profile portraits developed – those that were “cut-out”, and those that were painted. Sometimes these two disciplines were combined. The portraits were often of a very specific size, usually about 2½ by 3½ inches, and were either in turned pearwood or a stamped brass frame. By 1790 both these types of frames were generally discontinued, and were replaced by rectangular frames in black papier mâché (original frames are highly valued by collectors).
Painters worked on paper or card (which discolours easily) or on a more durable composition such as plaster of paris but also on the underside of convex glass. Occasionally profile portraits are painted on ivory (as traditional portrait miniatures were often based), and was especially used for profile portraits in jewellery.
Some artists liked to enhance their black images with gold paint, or even a bronzed effect which produced some curious examples such as a ladies with black faces wearing apple green dresses and puffed white turbans. The artists seemed to exaggerate clothing, such as the pouched fichus of the lady sitters or the buff frilled cravats of the gentlemen sitters.
In the late 18th century machines were invented for taking “likenesses”. This basically comprised a chair for the sitter, a frame for a sheet of oiled paper which could be fixed vertically on the chair arms, and a reflecting screen for a candle. The operator could then sit and trace an outline and produce an original “shade” portrait. This was then reduced by using a pantograph, and then filled with black paint. Wigs, feathers, clothes and other details could then be added. The whole operation sounded far from pleasant, as some operators used head-clamps, leg-irons and hand-cuffs to ensure sitters stayed still. Few such “machines” on caught for the reasons described. Most silhouettes were done “free hand”.
Estimates for the rarer silhouettes range from £200-£600 each, but a group of four early Victorian types might be had for as little as £200-300. The simplicity of miniatures makes them an attractive addition to any interior. They are a great social record – the late Georgians loved to have their likenesses multiplied. They represent the peacockery of male monied classes, and the time and care he lavished on his appearance. Similarly the ingenuity of female fashion made for a brilliant record. Another bonus – profile portraits proved cheaper than traditional miniature portraits, and the same is true at auction today.