Kelfe, M. Lane, Mrs (McKechnie Section 7)
See Section Two for main entry
On her trade label Mrs Kelfe offers, among other types of work, 'Profiles in Colours, with Frame and Glass, Half-a-Guinea'. In Chapter Four I have illustrated an unsigned silhouette of a man (probably a soldier) which can almost certainly be ascribed to Mrs Kelfe on grounds of comparison with her plain black work, varied in style though this is. The paper on which this example was painted has become so frail that it has been mounted on card; it was possibly in this way that the signature, if there originally was one, was lost.
On this silhouette (which I would date to c. 1780) the sitter's face is painted in black, and his military (or possibly à la marinière) coat in red; the buttons of his coat and his cockade are painted in gold. The sparseness of the line with which the clothing is drawn, the manner in which the shirt-frill is painted, the thick delineation of the sitter's eyelash, and the painting of the hair, are all characteristic of Mrs Kelfe's monochrome work.
Ill. 117
117
A soldier
Silhouette, possibly by Mrs M. Lane Kelfe, c. 1780. Since this silhouette is partly in colour (the coat is in red, and the buttons and cockade are in gold), it suggests the difficulty which can be experienced in attempting to distinguish a military from a civilian subject, since a civilian of the period might wear a red coat, and only the cockade indicates that the sitter must be a soldier.
The fantail hat; the flat crown of this type of hat is clearly shown, with a cockade.
The bound pigtail wig, with a long buckle placed rather low. This may, however, be a military queue, as the tuft at the end is well puffed out. The coat of the late 1770s, with an à la marinière front. Though this is an army coat, the civilian variety was fairly similar.
A soldier
Silhouette, possibly by Mrs M. Lane Kelfe, c. 1780. Since this silhouette is partly in colour (the coat is in red, and the buttons and cockade are in gold), it suggests the difficulty which can be experienced in attempting to distinguish a military from a civilian subject, since a civilian of the period might wear a red coat, and only the cockade indicates that the sitter must be a soldier.
costume dating points
The fantail hat; the flat crown of this type of hat is clearly shown, with a cockade.
The bound pigtail wig, with a long buckle placed rather low. This may, however, be a military queue, as the tuft at the end is well puffed out. The coat of the late 1770s, with an à la marinière front. Though this is an army coat, the civilian variety was fairly similar.
Author’s collection