Mason, William (McKechnie Section 2)

Recorded by Jackson (The History of Silhouettes and Dictionary). In the latter Jackson records a trade label which tells us that Mason was a profile-painter, print-seller, copier of paintings and drawings, and stationer, as well as practising the trade of resilvering 'Looking Glasses and Mirrors'. It is also clear that he painted water-colour views of Cambridge; there are in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, twenty-two such views, one of which is signed and dated 1810 (his earliest known dated work). Another view, of St Catharine's College, was painted in 1823. These water-colours were engraved for and published by Mason in 1823. In the Fitzwilliam Museum there is also a water-colour portrait of Dr Barnes, Master of Peterhouse, dated 1818, which appears to be a copy of an original by Mason. Inc. 1830 Mason published some engravings by J. Storer (1781-1837; a specialist in architectural and antiquarian subjects) and H. S. Storer. In the Central Library, Cambridge, is an engraving by J. Swaine (a wood engraver who specialized in work for periodicals) of an undated portrait by Mason of Dr Barnes. There is also another engraving (National Portrait Gallery) by Swaine of a profile by Mason of Herbert Marsh, Bishop of Peterborough and Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge; this (illustrated) is inscribed at the foot 'Drawn and Publd. with permission by W. Mason, near the Hospital, Cambridge, also 27 Views of the above University.'

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According to Jackson, Mason published another version of this print of Lord Herbert (who died in 1839). She also records a print, after an original profile by Mason, of Edward Daniel Clarke, Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge. This print (also in the National Portrait Gallery) is inscribed: 'Edward Daniel Clarke, LLD, Professor of Mineralogy in the University of Cam-bridge/Died March 9th., 1822, aged 53 years.' There is another pencilled inscription: 'W. Mason fecit.'

Apart from the prints (already mentioned) which were engraved after black silhouettes probably painted by Mason himself, I have seen at least three copies of a silhouette, painted by Mason in gold against a dark sepia background, of the Duke of Sussex (1773-1843), his patron. One, in my collection, is exactly similar to that illustrated by Jackson in her Dictionary; on the reverse, however, it bears not Mason's printed trade label, but the following pencilled inscription: 'H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex. Taken from Life, by W. Mason, St. Mary's Passage, Cambridge. Artist to H.R.H. August, 1826 for Gardner, Esq, of Fen Stanton Hunts.'

Mason, therefore, was a versatile artist who passed his career in Cambridge. His extant works date from 1810-30 and known addresses were 'near the Hospital' and St Mary's Passage. He was working in Cambridge at the same time as the better known artist Richard Bankes Harraden (q.v.).

I have illustrated two prints, after a water-colour and a silhouette by Mason. In considering his style I will deal only with his few known black and bronzed painted silhouettes. The silhouette of the Duke of Sussex in my collection is bronzed, as is a bust-length silhouette of a man which, although unsigned, is undoubtedly by Mason (Victoria and Albert Museum; in the box indicated by the letter E and three-figure numbers). The work on these examples is similar to the bronzed work of I. Hallam, and the background colour is a similar dark sepia; but the combination of gold and yellow paint producing the bronzed effect is much stronger in colour, yielding a yellow of cadmium type. Mason used gum arabic on all parts requiring deep shade, including a thick line across the base of the profile, thus attempting to achieve a three-dimensional effect. Hallam used this medium much more sparingly. Mason's brushwork is thick compared with that of Hallam. On the profiles of the Duke of Sussex Mason took pains to show the Duke's bushy eyebrow, and indicated his eyelashes with two fine strokes of the brush. These profiles of the Duke were framed in large papier mâché frames, measuring 6½ x 5½ in. overall; the centre ovals measure 3¾ x 3 in. The hanger on these frames shows the ducal crown.

I have seen only one black silhouette by Mason. The sitter was an undergraduate. The work on this was of poorer calibre than that of Harraden and presented a less finished effect than that of the silhouette prints engraved after Mason's work. There was a considerable amount of crazing on the thickly applied gum arabic, and the profile was unusual in that the sitter's high stock and the fringe on his mortar board were shaded in pale blue. Apparently taken c. 1815-18, the profile was marked on the back with a stencil.

A stencil and a printed trade label of Mason are known. The stencil (Trade Label No. 1) was used on the reverse of the profile of the undergraduate described above. It measures ¾ x 1¼ in. and reads:

W. MASON

PROFILE PAINTER

and

PRINTSELLER

Cambridge.

The printed label (Trade Label No. 2, illustrated, which, as I have mentioned, indicates the range of Mason's crafts) was probably used during the 1820s.

I have illustrated the inscription, in Mason's hand, from the back of the profile of the Duke of Sussex in my collection.

Ills. 882-886