Friend, Robert (SCC Newsletter April 2009)

Robert Friend of Tunbridge Wells — 1765 ? - 1820

A rare artist of quality, who had a short professional life.

This silhouette is painted by Foster in his black style. It is most likely a silhouette of Robert Friend the artist—although there is no definite proof. He is illustrated in an article by F. Gordon Roe in "The Connoisseur".

Introduction

Amongst Mrs McK's archives I found a rather scrappy and much altered article by John Woodiwiss entitled "Silhouettes and Wax Portraits" Chapter 3. I suspect it was never published, as I cannot find any trace! I think Woodiwiss produced many articles that did not see the light of day as Mrs. Peggy Hickman was constantly on his heels! However, in this article, when he was listing a number of silhouette artists, he makes the following comment about Robert Friend— “another profilist about whom far too little is known, was working in the late eighteenth century in a most individual manner, but was still in practice at the Kentish Spa during the early years of the following century". (actually the latter part of this statement is not certain) He then goes on to relate finding a Regency specimen bearing Friend's brief label. This disappointingly gave him no details of the artist and he was unsuccessful in acquiring the silhouette as well! He continued to search for further details of the artist but unfortunately up to the present time no more information about the life and career of the artist has come to light and may be it never will. Nevertheless in this article I have attempted to gather all that is available together with illustrations of all the silhouettes that so far have been attributed to him. Some of you may have others - if so I would be glad to hear from you. I have looked through many old sale catalogues - it seems that works by him were sold at Sotheby's in 1962, 1966 and 1975. I acquired a work by him, but unattributed at the time, at Christie's, South Kensington in the 1990's. This stems to be the sum total of works by Friend that have appeared in the major salerooms—certainly by all counts very few compared with works by John Miers and Mrs. Beetham his contemporaries.

Page 2 Friend

The name of Robert Friend first appeared in print in an article published in December 1924 in - “The Connoisseur" by Mr. F. Gordon Roe F.S.A. This article is responsible for most of the information we know about this artist, It is Mr. Roe who inherited the five silhouettes, said to be members of the Friend family, which are now in the Victoria & Albert Museum Collection. I will be illustrating these silhouettes and others later in this article. I have photocopied above the front page of the Roe article entitled "A Family in Silhouette".

His Background

On the basis that the Foster silhouette is of the artist - Mr Roe thought it was and Mrs McK. thought it likely—we have gleaned some facts and dates. He was buried at Speldhurst Church in 1820 having died at the age of 59 or 60 on 23rd or 25th August of that year. (Evidently two records gave slightly different information) He was buried with his wife and the grave bears a headstone. Either date of death means that he must have been born around 1760/61 - a little earlier than the date given in the Book. This would make him about 19 or 20 years of age when he painted his first recorded silhouette, which seems more likely than the younger age suggested by Mrs McK. considering the skill and sophistication shown. It was suggested by Mr Roe that Foster's silhouette was painted whilst Friend was staying with his daughter in Derby (Foster being associated with this town) - I think this is unlikely as his daughter was born in 1805 and would only have been aged 15 at the time of his death. She was called Elizabeth Ann and her dates are 1805 -1887.

Apart from the fact that Friend was married and had a daughter we know nothing else about his family's life style. He does not seem to have travelled about the country and is only associated with the town of Tunbridge Wells. Tunbridge Wells is not known for producing silhouette artists - although Gordon Roe describes a well-known resident of the town, who had numerous profiles of prominent people on her walls - so it is quite likely that the town was visited by other artists possibly during Friend's time or later. No Tunbridge Wells Directory was published before the reign of Queen Victoria - John Woodiwss felt that this sort of disappointment was what made silhouette collecting such a fascinating hobby! I am not so sure!

Page 3 Friend

His Career

For a long time it was assumed that Friend was an amateur artist and that he just painted members of his family and friends, but John Woodiwiss, in particular, was not convinced as “every line suggested a professional touch" in his view. Then in March, 1962 Sotheby's offered two silhouettes by Friend and one of these was backed with a trade label—thus proving his hunch! Most of Friend's silhouettes are simply signed under the bust-line—few were not signed at all—so I think it is very likely that there will be other unattributed works out there—possibly owned by some of you!

The length of his working career is uncertain. From the costumes of his ‘sitters' he is likely to have started painting about 1779-80. Mrs McK, takes the view that he did not paint silhouettes after 1790 and speculates that he possibly worked in another field. On the other hand Woodiwiss assumed that he worked on into the nineteenth century. We just do not know, but the paucity of his output lends weight to Mrs McK's theory.

His Work

Above is a lady attributed to Friend. She was one of five left to Mr Roe - as stated he assumed that all five were members of the Friend family. However, this lady is somewhat different in style to the other four as I shall show. I should explain that Mr Roc was unsure about her attribution, but could not give any other explanation for her being in the same packet with the other four. Mrs McK. did not doubt her attribution and regarded her as an early work of the artist c. 1777 (which makes Friend about 17 at the time) To me she is somewhat continental in style - painted in plain black with a very elaborate headdress and other clothing adornments. She is illustrated in the Book on page 479 illus. 796.

Friend painted on rectangular pieces of paper in Indian ink. He used a silvery pencil to show clothing detail. On one recorded work he used some chinese white for detail as well as pencil. The word precision has been used when referring to his work —particularly over his clothing detail. For example he showed the diagonal binding on men's pigtails. Shirt frills were carefully shown as well as women's curls and elaborate headdresses. I will illustrate all these features. It is of note that Friend's silhouettes illustrated in the Book do not do 'justice' to the artist as these do not show clearly his highlights and shading. His style has been likened to the chiaro work of Torond. So I have purchased photographs from the Victoria & Albert Museum for this article in the hope of showing these details more clearly. His bust-line terminations are varied but are mostly of a gentle sloping kind.

Page 4 Friend

His Ladies

The lady on the left is a member of the Friend family and is illustrated in the Book on page 480 illus. 798. She would appear to be aged in her 30's or 40's and she is wearing an elaborate hairstyle and headdress with ribbons and other adornments. She has a flatish bust-line and a short thick eyelash—the latter seems to be something of a feature with Friend. On the right is another member of the family about the same age. She is illustrated in the Book also on page 480 illus. 797. She may be more familiar to collectors as she is also illustrated in Mrs Jackson's Dictionary. She has a more formal hair style and is wearing a very fancy muslin indoor cap. She has much silver pencilling and some chinese white to show other detail. In the centre is a young lady —probably in her 20's with a much looser hairstyle wearing a muslin cap in the a la conseilleur fashion. Again silver pencil has been used freely for highlights. All three can be dated from their clothing to the period 1780-86.

His gentlemen

These two gentlemen are again members of the Friend family - both are illustrated in the Book on page 480 illus. 799 & 800 respectively. The man on the left looks to be about 30 years of age - note the binding on his pigtail and the form of his shirt frill. His wig is nicely shown with the pencilling detail. On his right is a adolescent boy—I think it can be seen that his shirt frill is similar to that of his older relative. The shading under is bust-fine is 'strange' but obviously done by the artist with his signature beneath.

Page 5 Friend

On the left is a gent from John Woodiwiss's book "British Silhouettes" on plate 2. The work is owned by him so he was eventually able to acquire a work by Mr Friend! It is not a good photograph in the book so it is difficult to see the detail, but Woodiwiss states that it has silver pencilling highlights. His shirt frill looks rather 'solid' and he has clearly been reframed. In the centre is another gent from the Victoria & Albert Museum Collection, but not of the Friend family and bequeathed at a later date. When I was requesting photographs from the Museum I was informed by the curator that he thought this work was a print. However, they were not prepared to remove it from the frame stating that it was too "fragile"! Therefore they were unable to come to a conclusion. I think it is extremely unlikely to be a print and certainly Mrs McK assumed it was painted, It is illustrated in the Book on page 480 illus. 801. Mrs McK thought it might be an early work by the artist but I am not sure - it seems as if it has not been ‘well-treated' over the years. His pigtail shows the same binding as the gent on page 4. On his reverse is "a very immature signature" which is illustrated in the Book on page 481 illus. 804 - this led Mrs McK to think of an early work. However, I cannot believe that Friend ever wrote his name like this and it was probably added by an owner at some point.

On the right is an unknown gent from the Christie Collection - also in the Book on page 480 illus. 802. His frill is shown enlarged in the Book on page 514 illus. 993. It is a little different from the frills of the Friend family being a little more elaborate at the edges. He may be a slightly later work or the gent's frill was actually more fussy. Mrs McK has dated him c.1886-88. He has the luxury of having a signature under the bust-line and a label on his reverse!

His Frames

Pressed brass is recorded as his frame of choice—I have not seen a work of his in this type of frame. I have no information on the frames housing the Friend family, but these are all rectangular and I think unlikely to be pressed brass, The silhouette of young women is housed in a rather basic oval wooden frame. However I see from the Book that the Christie Collection gent would appear to be in a pressed brass frame. It is likely that the Woodiwiss Collection gent in a papier-mache frame was either reframed or he was painted in the nineteenth century as suggested his owner. It is recorded that Friend painted his silhouettes on pieces of paper which were 3.5" by 5.5”.

Page 6 Friend

His Signatures

These are varied—but are generally under the bust-line termination and always in a neat hand. The following wording has been seen on Friend's silhouettes:- "R. Friend T. Wells", "Friend Tunb Wells", "Friend Tunbridge Wells" and "Robert Friend Tunbridge Wells" There may be other variations.

On the left is the signature from the Christie Collection gentleman—this is illustrated in the Book on page 481 illus. 803—it can be read easily.

On the right is the signature from the young lady - as can be seen this is in stencil form—this has not be recorded to date. I can only assume that this form was adopted by the artist after he had become professional. The wording is ""R. Friend Pinx". If he was using a stencil it is strange that there are not more silhouettes recorded by him.

His labels

Two labels are recorded. Number 1 is on the reverse of the Christie Collection gent and photocopied above from the Book on page 481 illus. 805. The printing is plain and functional with no 'frills' or decoration. It seems that the Christie work has everything that a collector wants in a silhouette, but the Christie Collection was one of very high quality all round. I do not know the whereabouts of this silhouette now but I am sure it is in good hands!

Label Number 2—I have only seen the wording quoted. The silhouette that bore this label was seen by both John Woodiwiss and Mrs Jackson. It states:- "Richard Friend of Tunbridge Wells. Charged 8s 6d for his silhouettes frame and glass included." This gives the only recorded information about Friend's prices.

There is no record that he used advertisement in his local paper or elsewhere. It does not seem that he was very commercial or boastful in any way!

I think a silhouette by Friend would be a very desirable addition to any collection—not to mention a rare one! His painting and highlighting is in the top rank of silhouette artists in my view—even if this article has not been able to show this as completely as I would have liked. Do let me know if any of you have a Friend!