Adolphe, Edgar, Monsieur (SCC Newsletter, January 2007)

Monsieur Edgar Adolphe fl. c. 1832-1846

A French Silhouettest, who made Brighton his Home.

Mr. Woodiwiss has suggested that Adolphe was "perhaps the most interesting among the resident shadow-portraitists working in Brighton in it's heyday period from 1825 to 1845. Also, he considered the artist to be among the most graceful exponents of the art of gold and water-colour embellishment. He felt that he came a close second to John Field with his gold high-lighting. Mrs. McK. makes little comment about the quality of his work except "neat and accurate”. Arthur Mayne referred to him as "a sound draughtsman with a good firm line". I have always liked his work and take the view that he had more artistic skills than many other silhouette artist of his period. I hope you will agree with me at the end of this article.

His Background.

He was a French émigré, who came to this country in 1832 according to Mrs. McK. — although others have dated his arrival a little earlier to 1830. It is not clear why he left France as he stated he had been appointed profilist to Louis Phillippe of France 1830-1848. A label reveals that he arrived in Brighton at least by 1838 — so Mrs. McK. has suggested that he probably travelled to other parts of England between 1832 and 1838, but there are no records and his early labels do not give an address. He lived at three addresses in Brighton — ie. in 1838 at 79, King's Road, in 1839 at 113, St. James Street and by 1845 at 4, East Street. The last two addresses are confirmed from the Brighton Directories of the period. What he did after 1846 we do not know, as his last recorded silhouette is dated 16th. August, 1846. It is possible that he returned to France and died there. We know almost nothing about his personal life except that he was married to a lady called Eloise, who by 1845 was managing a tobacconist's shop in Brighton. There is no mention of any children in the household.

His Work.

Adolphe was a painter on card, although Mrs. Jackson in her "Dictionary" recorded that he painted on very rounded convex glass with a wax backing. Perhaps he advertised this skill at some point, but no advertisement has been traced and no silhouette in this medium has been ascribed to Adolphe with any certainty. He painted silhouettes in bust-length, three-quarter length and full-length. He painted animals, but there is no record that he painted conversation pieces — although he did a number of composite bust-lengths of families. Also, he painted profile miniatures both full-length and bust-length. We are somewhat handicapped by Adolphe's lack of advertisement in knowing the varieties of styles that he offered to his clients. We have no information about his charges. However, it is most likely that he adopted similar charges to those of his contemporaries in the silhouette 'world' ie. the cheapest being for the plain black with no or little embellishment and the most expensive for those with gilding, colour and much clothing detail. In the following pages I will endeavour to illustrate examples of all the types of silhouettes painted by Adolphe — together with some examples of his coloured profiles. My advanced apologies for the quality of some of the illustrations. When I have only been able to use a black & white illustration for a silhouette with some colour I will endeavour to 'add' the colour as well !

His Body Colours!

1. Black. He painted plain black bust-lengths with little or no clothing detail. Bust-line terminations are a sloping line with a shade-line underneath. This shade-line usually contained the name "Adolphe". I have illustrated on the top of the next page two examples — firstly of a boy and secondly of an unknown man illustrated in Mrs. McK. on page 453 illus. 644.

Adolphe Page 4

2. Black with embellishments

Below I have illustrated three examples of this style. Interestingly the two young women are not so neatly embellished as I would have expected from Adolphe. There is much gold on their dresses and their hair. Only one is signed on the obverse, but both have pencilled squiggled foregrounds, somewhat in the style of Mr. London. The silhouette of the gentleman in the centre from an album is in contrast very neatly and carefully painted with a very skilled use of gum arabic. The latter is difficult to show in the photograph. Chinese white has been subtlety used on his stock — note his gold spectacles!

Adolphe Page 5

3. Greyish/Green

Arthur Mayne in his book "British Profile Miniaturists" states that Adolphe hardly used colour "since his work is usually in one colour only green". As we know Mr. Mayne is not always reliable! Mrs. McK. mentions that he painted in a green/grey body colour, which tended to become a bit streaky. Illustrated above on the left is Miss Rowe (page 453 illus. 645) which shows this 'defect' on her face and neck. She has much detail in gold on her hair and dress as well as lines of black gum arabic to show the folds of her clothing and the division between her ringlets. On the right is an unknown lady — highlighted in grey and white with gum arabic. She is in Mrs. Jackson's "Dictionary" on plate 82. The name Adolphe can just be seen under the bust-line on both. Note that both are three-quarters in length.

4. Bluish / Dark Grey

There are more extant examples in this body colour than any other. Details of clothing were highlighted in gold and gum arabic and this is so in the case of all three examples I have illustrated above from Mrs McK's Book. Mrs. McK. mentions that sometimes Adolphe' use of gum arabic was rather thick and tended to lead to peeling. I think this can be shown on the unknown man on the right (page 453 illus. 647) although Adolphe could use this gum very neatly and effectively, as I have shown with the man illustrated on page 4. Note his bust-line termination, which is unusual. In the centre is an unknown girl (page 453 illus. 648) with a narrow sloping bust — this is used by the artist for younger 'sitters' On the left is an unknown woman (page 453 illus. 646) Clearly her bust-line has been cut in order to fit her into the frame.

In my last Newsletter in the article on royal silhouettes I illustrated a work by Adolphe of George IV which is painted in a dark grey body colour. This silhouette is frequently reproduced and it is thought that the work was used by Adolphe for advertisement purposes in view of the Prince Regent's association with Brighton. It was painted posthumously as George died in 1830!.

Adolphe Page 6

5. Dark Sepia

Although Adolphe used this colour for bust-length works I have not seen any of his full-length work in sepia. The composite work illustrated on the right was owned by John Woodiwiss and is illustrated in his Book "British Silhouettes" - although this photograph is from Mrs. McK's archives. Mr. Woodiwiss describes the base colour as "mellow-brown" The work is of four young boys and a girl — their hair is highlighted in gold and the boys' collars are outlined in black. Also, the work is illustrated in Mrs. McK's Book in the Costume Section on page 175 illus. 251. The couple above were sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street on 7th. October, 2003 (Lot 10). Both have gilded highlights and are signed under the bust-line which follows their costume contours — a feature of some of Adolphe's work. (They were housed in maple frames with gilded inner slips and they made £400 on the hammer)

Composite Works

Illustrated on the right is a composite work of eleven members of one family. This was once owned by Desmond Coke and is illustrated in his book "The Art of Silhouette (plate XXIV ) Apologies for the quality of his photograph, but reproduction was not so good in 1917! Adolphe I think fancied his skills with children and also favoured painting families in this way. Probably it was quite lucrative! I think this particular example is painted in black body colour, but it is impossible to know whether gum arabic was used for hair and clothing detail.

In contrast the children illustrated above right have quite a lot of detail as well as their white collars in the case of the boys.

Profile Minatures

Mrs. McK. in her Book was not very flattering about Adolphe's profiles — bust-length or full-length!. I have illustrated on the right the only example of a bust-length profile that I know. As to be expected this is illustrated in Mrs. McK. in Chapter 5 on men's costume (page 112 (illus.147). He is dressed in a brown jacket with a buff coloured waistcoat. His flesh colours show a hint of venetian red. He is William Vasey and was painted on 16th. August, 1846 — so he is a late work of the artist. I am not quite so critical as Mrs. McK. but think he was better at silhouettes than profiles!

Adolphe Page 7

Full Length Work

So far I have only been looking at bust-length works. Above are three examples of Adolphe's full-length silhouettes. On the left is a work that I have illustrated in the past under Sales — it is of a marvellous lady in a blue dress holding a bible She is Mrs. Stone — her dress is highlighted with white and gum arabic. In the centre above is a young boy called Stephen Smith, he was painted in 1839. His coat is heavily highlighted with gold and likewise his hair and shoes. His gum arabic has somewhat greyed over the years, which it is possible to see in the photograph. On the right above is an unknown lady painted in black with highlighting in chinese white. She was sold at Bonhams New Bond Street on 7th. October, 2003 (Lot 21) Again she was a very nice example and she made £450 on the hammer.

All three of these works have a painted foreground of planked flooring painted in squares of alternating shades of brown and a creamy-yellowish colour. All full-length figures I know have this foreground so it is a useful 'tool' for attribution.

On the right is a photocopy of a silhouette of a Brighton Town Crier. He is owned by the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and I am hoping in time to have a good photograph of him. He is quite a showy chap with red tops to his boots and the band round his hat. His overall effect is brownish in colour.

Full-length Profiles.

On the right is a profile, which I think is a good example of his work in spite of Mrs. McK's reservations! If one is really critical one might remark that he is a little stolid! He is signed on the obverse and dated 1838. He was painted in Brighton as he has a label to this effect on the reverse of his frame. Also he stands on the 'regulation' planked flooring foreground.

Adolphe Page 8

His Trade Labels

Mrs. McK. has listed five labels in her Book and I have ‘discovered’ three more that are unrecorded in recent years.

Label 1 This is illustrated in Mrs. McK's Book on page 454 illus. 650. It mentions Adolphe's 'connection' with the King of France. Mrs. McK. reckons that this label was the first the artist used in England and most likely it was used in the time before he came to Brighton.

Label 2 This is illustrated in Mrs. McK's Book on page 454 illus. 651. It gives no information at all and again was probably used before Adolphe came to Brighton.

Label 3 This is printed on yellow paper the text of which is fully recorded in Mrs. McK’s Book on page 365. It consists of a ghastly fourteen line poem. I will only repeat the first line, which is "Twos love, twas all inspiring love, tis said ". I think enough is said! The address on it is 113, St. James' Street.

Label 4 This is printed on pink paper and is very small ie 1.5"x2.5". The address has been partially obliterated, but is still discernible as 113, St. James Street. Mrs. McK. thinks that the artist removed the address to save reprinting when he moved to 4, East Street. However, it does add the words" Likenesses retouched or copied with accuracy. Frames made to any size or pattern on the shortest notice."

Label 5 This is printed on grey paper and was used at 4, East Street. I have no idea of the wording as this is not recorded. It was seen on the reverse of a composite family group.

I have given the three additional labels my numbers!

Label 2a This label is on the back of my full-length profile of a man illustrated at the bottom of the previous page. The full text is that of label 3, but with a change of address to 79, Kings Road, Brighton. This label is in fact illustrated in Mrs. Jackson's Dictionary (plate 82) This label would appear to fit in between labels 2 & 3.

Label 3a This is a stencil in the form of an artist's palette giving the address 113, St. James Street. Apologies for the quality — it would appear to 'fit' between labels 3 & 4.

Label 5a This label is at the back of my plain boy illustrated on page 2 of this article. This gives 4, East Street and mentions the "Monographic Institute". Mrs. Jackson refers to Adolphe's monographing, but Mrs. McK. stated that she was not clear if this word referred to Adolphe's method of signing or his method of painting! I am inclined to think it referred to his painting. This label would appear to fit after label 5.

His Signature

One 'sample’ of this from my coloured full-length profile illustrated on the previous page.