Portrait Miniatures

by George C. Williamson

We also illustrate from Lord Hothfield's collection one of Cosway's more serious portraits of men, The Earl of Thanet ([Plate XVII.]), set upon the usual blue cloudy background, in this instance a trifle paler than usual, and painted with convincing force in a very remarkable colour scheme.

Of the work of the more sedate painters, Smart and Engleheart, we are able to give many characteristic examples. From Lord Hothfield's collection come a splendid pair—Mr. and Mrs. Percival ([Plate XIX.]), painted with that striking force which marks the best work of Smart, upon his usual greenish-grey background, and with very subtle but well-marked modelling in the features. His carnations were ever a little brick-dusty in tint, and he delighted in the ruddier tones of the face, but in depicting the shadows he had few rivals. Although there may be perhaps a certain want of inspiration in his somewhat quaker-like method of work, and in the very low tone of his colouring, yet there is an honesty and a straightforward quality about it which is very attractive, and perhaps that was the reason why Cosway in the words of praise he gave to a painter so different from himself, spoke of him as "honest John Smart."

Engleheart's work has a certain resemblance to that of Reynolds, and the devotion which Engleheart felt towards the President of the Academy had an evidently strong effect upon his own art. He copied Sir Joshua's works over and over again, and gradually a good deal of the influence of the great master permeated the work of his follower. His miniatures were nobler, broader, and far better set upon the oval of the ivory than were those of many of his contemporaries, his draughtsmanship was excellent, and there was a brilliance about his painting of the eyes which is particularly attractive. The large portrait of Earl Beauchamp [(Plate XX.]), from the collection of Lady Maria Ponsonby, is a fine specimen of his best work; but those of Mrs. Sainthill and Mr. Brundish, from the collection of Lord Hothfield ([Plate XXII.]), are good examples of his smaller miniatures, possessing a great deal of charm and delightful in colour. His portrait of Miss Mary Berry, from Mr. Pierpont Morgan's collection ([Plate XXI.]), is quite one of his finest portraits of women. He painted both these sisters, and for a long time the two portraits were in one case, facing one another, but they have now been separated, and lie side by side in the cabinet. The two ladies were well known as being the close friends of Horace Walpole, who treated them with the greatest tenderness and affection, addressed to them many of his most brilliant letters, and persuaded them to settle down near him at Strawberry Hill. To them he dedicated his catalogue of treasures, and bequeathed a considerable sum of money, and his works and letters were, after his death, edited by Mary Berry, one of the sisters, who lived down till 1852, and died at the advanced age of ninety. From the same collection we have selected two delightful works by Smart, those representing Sir Charles Oakeley and a lady whose name is unknown ([Plate XVIII.]), both distinguished by the elaboration of flesh tints, so quietly and so accurately applied.

The very brilliant, if somewhat flashy, work of Andrew Plimer is particularly well represented in Mr. Pierpont Morgan's famous collection, because it includes the notable series representing Rebecca, Lady Northwick, and her three daughters, all of which are given in our monotone illustrations ([Plates XXIII.] and [XXIV.]). Plimer was an adept at flattery, and in this particular case the mother looks hardly older than her daughters, and the three girls are so much alike that one has to look exceedingly closely to notice the position of the band round the head, or of the curl which falls upon the neck, before one girl can be distinguished from another. The same unfortunate mannerism belonging to this clever painter can be seen in The Three Sisters Ellis, brilliant works by Andrew Plimer from the collection of Lord Hothfield, and here illustrated in colour ([Plate XXV.]). When closely regarded it is quite evident that the three girls are very different from one another, but at the first glance we almost wonder how their parents could have known them apart. The painter himself has been led to make little changes in their costume in order that each girl's identity should be preserved, and our remark respecting the exaggeration of the eyes is exemplified in these three very beautiful portraits. By the same painter is the charming representation of Selina Plimer, the artist's youngest child, from the collection of the writer of this essay ([Plate XXVI.]). This miniature came from Plimer's own portfolio, and bears his handwriting upon it. It is very graceful and light in its treatment. The Rushout girls form the subject of the largest painting ever executed by Plimer. His well-known group showing these three girls in one miniature now belongs to Mr. George J. Gould, and is fully described in the life of Andrew Plimer.

In Lord Hothfield's collection, however, is an interesting sketch ([Plate XXVII.]), a group of the three sisters, evidently his first idea, quite different both in composition and in execution to the finished picture. It came from Plimer's studio, is unmistakably his work, and particularly interesting as a fresh and original idea, even more charming in many ways than the finished picture. In the latter, the girls dress their hair quite differently to what they had it in the sketch, and very possibly the esquisse was made on their first visit to the studio, as they stood together that the artist might get an idea of how they looked. Another example of Plimer's work illustrated here in colour is from the same collection, and represents Mrs. Bailey ([Plate XXVIII.]). It is a pleasing picture, though the curious wiriness of hair to which we have drawn attention is very noticeable in it. One of the prettiest pictures that Plimer ever painted of a child is the one which we illustrate in reduced size from the collection of Lady Maria Ponsonby ([Plate XXIX., No. 1.]) It represents Sir Charles Kent as a Boy, playing upon a drum, and is a bright, piquant little picture.

Nathaniel Plimer's work is rarer than that of his brother, and we know very little indeed of the history of the artist. He was a curiously unequal painter. There were times when he could paint far better than his brother, but there are not perhaps more than two or three of his miniatures to which this high praise can be given. His general work is pleasing and agreeable, but does not betoken extraordinary skill. One of the best of his ordinary miniatures is in Lord Hothfield's collection ([Plate XXIX., No. 2]), and represents Mrs. Dawes. It is dated 1798, and is quite a fine picture, but not equal in high merit to two works by this master in the late Mr. Salting's collection, the finest examples of Nathaniel's work we have yet seen.

Ozias Humphry was a greater man than Plimer, but his work in miniature is rare. His draughtsmanship was exceedingly good, his colouring quiet and restrained, and his technique so elaborate, with such fine stipple work, that it has a general resemblance to that of enamel, but differs from this latter because it is not hard in its execution; and there is, moreover, an atmospheric quality about it very attractive. One of Humphry's peculiarities is to be noticed in the elongated shape he gave to the eyes of his sitters, what has been well termed "a greyhound eye," affording a marked contrast to the exceedingly round, over-bold eye, which Plimer was so fond of accentuating. Humphry drew children exquisitely, and his portrait of the Duchess of Albany as a child ([Plate XXX., No. 1]), in the possession of Lord Hothfield, is one of the most delightful miniatures with which we are acquainted. In it his accuracy of draughtsmanship is seen to perfection, and the modelling on the face is so dainty and delicate that the miniature is quite a little gem full of life and vivacity, while the child is represented with a demure, amused look, which is refreshing and natural. There is a very interesting history connected with this miniature. It was painted in Rome in 1773, when Humphry was there with Romney, and it eventually belonged to Horace Walpole, and was in his collection at Strawberry Hill. He is said to have received it from Sir Horace Mann, his great friend and correspondent, who was watching Prince Charles Edward (de jure Charles III.), on behalf of the English Government. The other Humphry, which we illustrate from the same collection, represents the Countess of Thanet ([Plate XXX., No. 2]), and is an excellent example of the manner in which Ozias painted a noble lady of a quiet, studious character. The colour scheme in this, again, is very pleasing.

Time would fail to describe the host of minor men who exhibited at the Academy, and it would be impossible to illustrate works by even the chief of them. We have selected just a few; first, an example of the work of John Smart the younger, who is especially well known for his fine pencil work, and for some wonderful copies from drawings by Holbein. There are very few of his miniatures in existence; and the one of Lieutenant Lygon ([Plate XXXI.]), in the collection of Lady Maria Ponsonby which is signed and dated, is a good, natural, life-like portrait, well drawn and composed. Then we would refer to Nathaniel Hone, who was an interesting person, and deserves to be remembered because he was the first artist in the eighteenth century to have what we now call a "one-man show." There is not a great deal of credit belonging to him for this adventure, because, had he not been a very sensitive and passionate man, and painted a picture which annoyed the Academy, the one-man show would never have come off.

In a painting called "The Conjuror" Hone was considered to have made an attack upon the President and upon Angelica Kauffman. It was rejected by the Academy, and in 1775 Hone opened his exhibition at 70, St. Martin's Lane, issued a catalogue, to which he affixed a preface, telling the story of his discomfiture from his own point of view, and appealing to the people respecting the merits of his paintings. The result was not particularly satisfactory, because it was felt that he had been in the wrong. The catalogue is a very rare one, and the whole story is rather interesting in its details.

A fine portrait by Horace Hone, the elder son of Nathaniel, representing William Pitt is in the collection of Lady Maria Ponsonby, and appears in our coloured illustrations ([Plate XXXII., No. 2]). Horace Hone was a better painter than his father. He excelled in enamel work, and his finest portraits are in that medium. He had a fine sense of colour and loved rich effects of velvet brocade, satin, or fur. Another of his miniatures is in Lord Hothfield's collection, and represents Lady Mary Nugent; it is signed and dated, and the owner has kindly permitted us to illustrate it in these pages ([Plate XXXII., No. 1]).