We have seen gold-backed silhouette portraits showing profiles which,
like the old puzzle pictures popular at the same period, are hard to
decipher. Thus an urn is made the central feature of the picture, but the
outline, varying slightly on either side, gives the profile of a man and
his wife. Such quaint conceits were popular at the time. George III. and
Queen Charlotte, or his successor and Queen Caroline, are sometimes the
subject of such freakish portraiture in silhouette; this method in black
and white survives to the present day.
The richness of the gold-leaf background made this variation of the
profile portrait especially suitable for jewels. Lockets, brooches, and
pins are the most usual form; these may be set in gold or in carved
pinchbeck. Occasionally a tiny silhouette picture is in pearl framing, or
an ornamental one of paste.
The silhouette rings are most frequently in the marquise setting; it
was not unusual for a bequest to be made for profile portrait memorial
rings. Occasionally some apt motto was engraved inside, such as, “Il ne
reste que l’ombre.” The ethereal shadow picture seems to have specially
appealed to the sentimental of the eighteenth century as a suitable
reminder after death.
In the Wellesley collection there is a charming patch-box with three
gold-backed profile portraits set in a row. None measures more than
half an inch across; the faces are those of three lovely women. Another
example is of a fine silhouette portrait of somewhat larger size, set in
the lid of a small, round black lacquer snuff-box.
A mirror case was exhibited at the Silhouette Exhibition held in Maehren,
Germany, in 1906, which had, on one side, the head and shoulders of a
woman painted in black on glass. This was mounted on a yellow ground.
Finer than either of these is a patch-box in ivory, set in gold, with
gold hinges and snap. In the centre is a gold set profile portrait of a
man, signed by Miers; on either side there are beautiful panels of blue
enamel. Doubtless this was a well-thought-out gift of a devoted admirer
to the lady-love whose patches were to be held in this artistic box. A
tiny oblong looking-glass is set in the inside of the lid to facilitate
the adjustment of the beauty spots.
It is in work for the embellishment of such dainty things as these that
the art of the profilist touches its highest point in minute work.
Those who had the opportunity of examining the marvellous collection
of the late Mr. Montague Guest can judge how these rare gems are not
only beautiful in themselves, but speak of the illusive charm of the
eighteenth century more eloquently than many other more costly bibelots.
The dainty sentimentality of a gold ring set with the shadow of a
beautiful woman, or the scarf-pin with the shade of a friend; a locket
with the unsubstantial reflection of a child’s face; who can resist the
colourless appeal of so unobtrusive a jewel, which is yet one of such
rich association and rare beauty?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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