Ames, Mrs (SCC Newsletter January 2009)

Ames Page 10 

Mrs Ames fl. 1785

The First Labelled Works by this Artist to be illustrated.

The pair above are painted on flat glass with a greenish gesso background — the colour has not come fully out in the photograph. Both are backed with a full trade label.

An artist called Mrs Ames is recorded in Mrs McK's Book on page 358 in Section Two (artists that painted on paper & card) and on page 517 in Section Three (artists that painted on glass). Also, the artist is recorded in Mrs Jackson's Dictionary on page 76 and in Arthur Mayne's "British Profile Miniaturists" on page 107 However, both Mrs Jackson and Mr Mayne 'confused' her with a Miss Ames - another recorded artist working at the same time, whose trade label is part of the Banks Collection in the British Museum. It is not clear if there was any relationship between the two ladies i.e. mother and daughter or whether in fact they were one and the same person. Nevertheless for the purposes of this article I am assuming that they are two different people and I will only be referring to Mrs Ames. The problem will only be solved if a labelled work by Miss Ames comes to light. Until the above pair surfaced no writer on silhouettes had seen the work of Mrs Ames.

Background & Career.

Unfortunately we have no Christian name initial for Mrs Ames - so research will be very limited. From her very full label her base would appear to have been in London, but we do have `evidence' that she performed her art in a number of locations. Mr Mayne mentions 6, Bell Street, Birmingham - this address was printed in an advertisement in the Birmingham Gazette for 19th September 1785. In this she mentions prices of 2s & 5s. Mrs McK, assumed that the cheaper price was for work on paper and the more expensive for work on glass Also Mayne mentions that she was a "frequent visitor to Bath for the season", but I am not clear from whence he obtained this information! The label illustrated on the next page mentions 46, College Green, but no town or city is given. A visit to Cork is also noted on the label -so it seems Mrs Ames moved about a bit! The length of her career is not known.

Her Style.

From these two examples her style would appear not to be too dissimilar to the work of the Jorden Brothers - although not as fine as the work of Walter at his best. Over the years it is not impossible that her work without a label has been attributed to Richard Jorden. It is of note that there is no bust-line termination for the lady -whether this was always the case with her ladies it is difficult to speculate - she may have felt it balanced the feathered hat!

Ames Page 11

Obviously we need more labelled examples to come to any conclusions, It would be particularily helpful to find some of her work painted on paper. She seems to have been quite versatile in that she was able to reduce large shades and to redress these as required. Also she painted jewellery pieces. Sitting time was one minute. She certainly did not hide her light under a bushel - claiming that her "mode is superior to any other yet attempted in any Kingdom". A very bold claim indeed! Above are enlarged images of the pair so that their details can be seen more clearly.

Her Label.

I hope you will be able to read the label from the photograph on the right. As you will see Mrs Ames does not hold back in the compliments she showers upon herself? She claims to have had contact with important personages including Prince William Henry in Cork – whose silhouette is considered to be "a masterly piece of the Art she professes”. On the label she seems to have increased her prices from those in the Birmingham Gazette to 9s. 9d - £l-2s-9d. This seems quite a large increase and indicates that she must have been quite a success. Also, she agrees not to charge if her likenesses do not meet with entire approbation — this in my view shows some confidence.