Clarke, W.

Gender:

Male

Date and place of birth:

Unknown

Date and place of death:

Unknown

Worked:

(fl) c 1780-81

Known places of work:

Chester

Known techniques:

Painted on card

Known materials:

Paint

Frames:

Pressed brass & gilded

Signature:

Recorded

Introduction:

This artist was recorded by Jackson, Mayne, and Foskett, on the evidence of an advertisement in Adam's Weekly Courant, Chester, 19 September 1780. It states that Clarke painted silhouettes on rectangular or square pieces of card coated with a thin layer of plaster. Jackson describes his work as fine, with detail that is 'opaque, never thinned'. Mayne writes that silhouettes by Clarke 'will be set in unorthodox frames, usually gilded'. He can be differentiated from other W Clarkes by his relatively early period of work.