Hamlet, William, the Younger (McKechnie Section 6)

See Section Three for main entry

On each of the three trade labels bearing the name Hamlet which were, in my opinion, used only by Hamlet the younger, work on ivory and work in collour are offered. Although some examples of work in these styles have been seen backed with labels of Hamlet the elder, which for a time both artists used jointly but on which work in colour is not mentioned, the available evidence suggests that ail work on ivory, and ail work in colour (whether on card or on ivory) was produced by the younger Hamlet.

I have seen several profile miniatures painted on card in colour by the younger Hamlet; they vary widely in quality. In the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, there is a poorly painted profile of a Miss B. C. Trefusis, inscribed as having been taken in c. 1808.

1533

I formerly owned a similar example which bore on the reverse one of the elder artist's handwritten trade labels (No. 1d) giving the address 12 Union Street,Bath; it was probably painted c. 1810-11, when the Hamlets were first using a studio which they had leased at this address. The younger Hamlet probably painted these before he started to take lessons from John Dixon (see Section Two); the brushwork is scrappy, the sitters' cheeks are inexpertly dabbed with carmine, and the hair is poorly drawn.

A much better example is the illustrated profile of Captain Andrew Clarke O'Malley, dated April 1813 but backed with Trade Label No. 4 of Hamlet the elder, used jointly by both artists at Union Street for a period. The same date, in the same handwriting, is on the two portrait miniatures (in profile, on ivory) of Mr and Mrs Smith (discussed below), and the date on a profile on glass (discussed in Section Three), clearly inscribed 'W. Hamlet, Junr.' is also in this hand. There is, in private possession in Dublin, a very similar profile in colour of O'Malley's brother, Major Owen O'Malley, of Spencer Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, which also bears Trade Label No. 4 and the same date in the same handwriting as is seen on the profile of his brother.

In the Donald Gildea collection there is a full-length profile miniature in colour, on card, of an officer of the Loyal Bath Volunteers. This is painted against a background of what appears to be Carisbrooke Castle, on the left, and a camp scene in the distance. The piece is unsigned. but the painting of the face and of the head and shoulders, studied in magnification, reveals that it is by the same hand as the O'Malley profiles, and is therefore by the younger Hamlet. The work on these profiles of military subjects is almost as expert as that of Charles Buncombe at his best.

I have illustrated two profile miniatures on ivory of Mr and Mrs Smith, taken in 1813 (the year is inscribed in the same hand as the O'Malley profiles) and backed with Trade Label No. 4 of the elder Hamlet; these also must be the work of the younger Hamlet. Each is painted against a blue stippled back¬ground. Compared with the work of the leading miniaturists, these may be thought to be of indifferent quality, but, technically, they show a vast improvement on the artist's earlier profiles in colour on card, as do the military profiles described above. Even finer is a miniature, showing the sitter three-quarter face, owned by Mrs Jean de Peyer; this is backed by Trade Label No. 3 of the younger Hamlet and was probably painted at 2 Old Bond Street, Bath, in 1815, shortly before the artist's death. Long notes (erroneously, under 'T. Hamlet') a profile miniature on ivory, of a small boy, inscribed on the back. 'May. 1815, by Hamlet, of 2, Bond Street'. This must also be by the younger Hamlet.

I have illustrated an en grisaille portrait. (It was the Bath artists who often called these 'cameo’ portraits). Although there is no specific mention of such work on Hamlet's trade labels, this example is signed `W. Hamlet delt'. There is no mention on the elder artist's trade labels that he offered work on ivory, it must be concluded from this, also, that the portrait is the work of the younger Hamlet (who offered work on ivory on all his trade labels). There are two unsigned en grisaille profiles of women in the Bristol Art Gallery, one of which is illustrated; they may be either by Hamlet or by his contemporary and teacher, John Dixon.

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The signed example is painted against an almost dead-black background; a back line has been added beneath the bust to give a three-dimensional effect. This piece appears to have been painted in c. 1814. All the detail of the sitter's face and clothing is well shown in thinned pigment; no Chinese white or tints have been added, such as are seen on some examples by other exponents of this type of painting (for instance, Andrews or de Janvry; qq.v.). By this date Hamlet had developed into a highly skilled artist. The improvement in his work must be accounted for by the lessons which he had received, probably c. 1811-12, from John Dixon.

Ills. 197, 1533-1537