Hallam, John (SCC Newsletter November 1999)

John Hallam

An UPDATE on this ARTIST'S WORK.

In my June, 1993 Newsletter I wrote an article on Mr. Hallam entitled "Some more information on the artist and problems of attribution". The article was illustrated by four examples of his work (3 men & 1 woman) - prior to this no silhouettes of men had been recorded. Some of the photographs in the article were life-size - others were of enlarged detail showing quality and style of his brushwork; his 'treatment' of ears and the idiosyncrasies of his bust-line terminations. It also came to light that his base colour is not always sepia but can be black. At the time of writing the article I had not seen a Hallam label - all my examples were attributed on sylistic grounds - although one had the artist's signature under the bust-line. About two years ago I went to an antique fair and found two silhouettes by Hallam both with labels and both housed in frames with a Hallam hanger. These two silhouettes are photographed above - I like to think they are mother and daughter! The older woman is about life-size and the younger woman has been enlarged to show details of the gilding.

re. Gilding. When I was describing his gilding in 1993 I mentioned that one of the men illustrated was highlighted with a pinkish gold, whereas on the others a yellowish gold had been used. The ladies above show the use of two colours for the highlights - bronze and gold. These have been attractively mixed to give a pinkish hue. The separation of the colours can be seen more clearly on the enlarged photo. The quality of the gilding is not high when compared with that of John Field and Jefferson - but it has it's own charm. However, Hallam at his best can be almost as good as the other two.

re. Use of gum arabic. Mrs. McKechnie took the view in her article on Hallam (see page 410-411) that he only used gum arabic under the hairline but she had not see any men! This is clearly not so - even on the women. On the younger

HALLAM contd.

woman gum arabic is under the hair-line/under her necklace and under her bust and shoulder. On the older woman it is also under the hair line, plus some on her head-dress and it is used liberally over her clothing except where it is highlighted with gold and bronze.

re. paintinq outside the 'body’. This is not particularily skillful in the case of my two women - it is in thinned grey water colour and has been used for hair, some details of dress and on the hat of the older woman.

re. bust-line termination. In both cases there are two grey lines under the back part - one line is darker than the other. This is quite a typical feature of Hallam's work - but is not on every work by him.

re. his label. This is illustrated above on the right. As you will see this is small and affixed to the top left hand corner of the frame. The wording of the label is recorded by Mrs. McKechnie from Mr. J. Woodiwiss. The "gold bronze tint .." is well illustrated in the two women I think. Mr.Hallam obviously fancied the mixing of the two shades! I do not know if this label was used later in his career or whether it was ever printed in another colour. He clearly regarded his abilities highly by adding on the label "to the principal nobility of the Kingdom"!

re. the hanger. This photograph has come out well and shows the name I. HALLAM clearly at the top. The royal crown has been incorporated although as far as we know Mr. Hallam had no royal connections. A Hallam hanger on a frame does not necessarily mean that a Hallam silhouette is housed within - unless it is accompanied with an unbroken label on the back that has not been 'tampered' with in any way. Attribution must also be made on stylistic grounds as well as comparison with other authenticated works. As you know there were other artists who had their own personalised hangers - i.e. Mr. Foster. It is really exciting as a collector when one comes across a silhouette by a well-known artist in it's original frame and labelled.

If any of you have a work by Hallam with a label I should be glad to hear from you.