A silhouette artist working on plaster, Thomas Patey is a relatively unknown artist, with very few silhouettes attributed to him.
We know that Patey lived and worked in London 1784-1788 although it is unclear, due to an absence of an address on his trade label, whether he was working as a silhouette artist at this point. Surviving silhouettes have been framed in hammered brass or pearwood.
Patey’s work is painted in solid black on flat plaster slabs. He used incredibly fine lines, dots and dashes to enhance the clothing of the sitter. The bust line finish is of the double-loop concavity type, with a notable short distance between the sitter’s neck and the bust-line.
Source: McKechnie (Author of, British Silhouette Artists and their Work 1760-1860)
Patey, Thomas (McKechnie Section 4)