Miers, John (SCC Newsletter July 2001)

Mr. JOHN MIERS 1758-1821

HIS WORK 1781-1801.

John Miers, is regarded by many as the finest British silhouette artist of all time. Certainly he is the name that comes most frequently to the minds of antique dealers and fine art auctioneers, even if they claim to know little or nothing about silhouettes! I suspect that many silhouettes ascribed to him are in fact the work of his famous assistant John Field. We can all recall silhouettes illustrated in sale catalogues that look very similar but are variously described as "John Miers", "Studio of John Miers" or "John Field". I hope this article will help you to recognise a genuine work by John Miers.

In 1938 Leonard Morgan May wrote a book solely about Mr. Miers entitled "The

Master of Silhouette." Mr. Morgan May was a keen collector and a great admirer of Mier’s work. In my view it is not a work of great merit and can be read in about an hour or so. However, it was a serious attempt to focus on one artist and it contained many very good illustrations. Nevertheless Mr. Morgan May ascribed several silhouettes by John Field to John Miers and was obviously not clear about the working arrangements between the two artists. It needed Mrs. McKechnie to research Mier’s background and style in real detail and we must all be grateful to her for this. As a result of her research she came to three major conclusions. Firstly that works backed by Mier’s labels 1-10 were by John Miers and John Miers alone. Secondly works backed by label 11, with few exceptions, are unlikely to be by John Miers. Thirdly works backed with label 12 (largely with gilded highlights) will be by John Field. These may be difficult to accept, as I am sure many of us have works that we have or years referred to as being by Miers but are in fact by Field or possibly by the mysterious 'X' mentioned by Mrs.McKechnie!

In this article I will illustrate works by John Miers (JM) backed with one of his labels from 1-10 (or originally had one of these labels). Also, I will illustrate most of these labels alongside the silhouettes. By doing this I am hoping to show the development of his work from his relatively plain early work to the wonderful skill of his work that is backed with labels 8 & 10. I hope at the end of the article you will be able to recognise a true John Miers (i.e. most of the time!).

Firstly some brief details of JM's background. He was born in Leeds on 22nd.

Oct.1758. His father was a painter of heraldic coach signs. In the early days, JM assisted him with this work. JM married in Jan.1781 and by March that year he had set up his own business as a "painter, gilder & profilist.” He and his wife had 11 children born between Oct.1781 & Jan.1798. The first our children were born in Leeds, one in Edinburgh and the rest after he moved to London. Painting coaches and selling paints formed his main business in the early years but very quickly it seems the painting of profiles took over! By 1784 he was into jewellery and was reducing profiles for rings & lockets etc. in large quantities. He travelled to various northern towns and cities between 1783 and Dec.1788, when he moved to London. These included: Newcastle 1783, Liverpool 1785 &86, Manchester 1785 & 86 and Edinburgh 1787.Mrs.McKechnie relates that he stayed with Mrs.Lightfoot when visiting Liverpool but when he subsequently visited Edinburgh he found Miss Lightfoot exhibiting several of his silhouettes as her own! She had copied his ideas & techniques whilst he was staying with her mother! JM dealt with the matter by appealing to the public to reject her "clandestinely picked-up art" in favour of his own - the public did just that! JM first address in London was 162 Strand - he moved to 111 Strand in 1791. By 1792 he was being assisted by other profilists. T Lovell was known to have been a pupil at this time. John Field probably joined him as well and no doubt Mr. 'X' (or Mrs. 'X'!)There is no evidence that Houghton, Smith of Edinburgh, Bruce or Thomason ever worked with him although all were obviously influenced by him as far as their individual styles were concerned. By 1801 only one assistant remained and that was John Field. In May1831 he described himself as the sole artist to Mr. Miers for 30 years - this statement has not been contradicted

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by any of JM's relatives or anyone else. JM painted few silhouettes after 1800 and is reported to have spent most of his time until his death sorting and filing his large collection of duplicate profiles. By 1820 his health was failing and he died on 2nd.June, 1801. He left £20,000.which was something of a fortune at that time. He left the business to be carried on by his son William and John Field.

His Work. John Woodiwiss in his book gives an account of JM cutting silhouettes -Mrs. McKechnie did not agree. However, he did paint on card in thinned black paint and a handful of these works have been recorded. I have seen two examples. He was never a cutter or a painter on glass. It seems that he quickly found painting on plaster as the most satisfactory medium and he continued to use this for the rest of his working life. His original 'shadows' were life-sized (probably about 25" by 132") He used a pantograph to reduce these to an acceptable size. I will now look at work under the different labels. Label. No.1. Above are two silhouettes backed by this label. The gent on the left is shown with little detail in plain black. The lady on the right shows more textual detail than is usual at this stage of JM's 'development'. The top of her hat is feathered and the brim of her hat appears to be made of felt. There is a small shadow outlining her chignon. Note the shallow convexity/concavity bust-line finish of the two works. Both are sealed in plaster frames with some gilding and a beaded inner edge. Flat glass was used. The powdery spots are from the plaster and are not too obvious from a distance. Both works have been photographed larger than life-size.

On the next page I have illustrated Label No.1. (0il Tarr 2s.6d.) It is behind the lady. Unfortunately there is a little damage just by the printed 2/6d. This label was in use by April 1781. I have no photograph of Label No.2. (Oil Tarr 3s.inked in).This is a rare label and was only in use for a few months towards the end of 1781. A 25% increase in price in a few months!

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Label No.3. Below on the right is a photograph of a bonnetted lady backed with this label. Quite a lot of costume detail has been shown together with the texture of her hair both at the front and round her chignon. Mrs. McKechnie associates the denticulated edge on the back of her bonnet and the 'smudging' at the edges of her hair with work backed by Label No.4. Clearly it is not possible to link these sort of details to a particular label during this early period of JM's work. Labels were being updated in price at frequent intervals! Note the lady's eyelash and eyebrow, which is just visible on the larger than life-size photograph. Her ribbons are drawn in more detail than those of the gent backed with Label No,1. Mrs. McKechnie mentions a sharper point at the back of the bust-line for the label, but it is not present in this work. She is housed in a plaster frame. Often these frames got chipped and broken over the years - so that many of these early works have been reframed. This lady's frame is almost perfect after nearly 220 years.

Label No.3. (Oil Tarr 3s.) An illustration of this label is at the top of the next page. It is identical in wording with labels 1 & 2 with the exception of the price for sitting. The amount 3s has now been printed - this figure can be seen clearly on the photograph. This label was in use in 1782.

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Label No.4. Below on the right is a photograph of a work backed by this label. It is of a middle-aged gent in a bag wig. He is painted with very little detail, although the texture of his hair is painted with the smudging effect previously described. He has an eyebrow and a sweeping eyelash. His buttons are shown flat to his coat without 'stalks'. Note that he has a sharper point at the back of his bust-line. He is housed in a plaster frame that has been gilded at some point. He is ex-Christie Collection. Also, he has been photographed larger than life-size.

Label No.4 (Oil Tarr 5s.) This label is photographed below. The only difference from label 3 is the 'new' price of 5s.This can be seen with some difficulty. The label was probably used in the later part of 1782 or early 1783.

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Label No.5. Photographed above is a young gent backed by this label. At once it is possible to see that JM's style is developing and he is showing more finesse in the detail - but he is still painting in plain black. The ribbons on his queue are beginning to look 'familiar'. Denticulation is used to show the shirt front and there is the usual smudging effect on the hair to indicate its texture. However, the bust-line has changed - it is now a double loop concavity and the point at the back has become much sharper. This bust-line termination is the 'hall-mark' of JM's works under this label. This double-loop was only used under this label and does not seem to have found favour with JM! Plaster frames were still being used with this label resulting in the familiar powdery bits on the silhouette itself.

Label No.5.(Lowerhead Row). This label is also photographed above - it is unlike labels l-4 in that it is vertically placed on the frame. For the first time there is no mention of a price for sitting - it may be that JM preferred to negotiate with his clients with price depending on the affluence of the 'sitter'! Also, for the first time the storing of duplicates is mentioned - thus enabling additional copies to be made. This label was used between 1783 & 84. The gent above is larger than life-size and the label is about two thirds of its actual size.

On the next page is a photograph of an officer also backed with label 5. I have photographed him a little smaller than life-size so that the plaster frame is included. This frame is in very good condition and has not been restored in any way. I have added two additional photographs of the officer so that JM's distinctive style at this stage of his career will be able recognisable anywhere and not confused with the work of other artists at this time.

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As far as we know JM was the originator of profile work on plaster/composition. Work backed with label 5 was being produced just over 3 years after JM set up as a profile artist.

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Label 6. Photographed above is a gent backed with this label. Plaster frames have been replaced with pressed brass frames and convex glass. In this example the queue bow is in arrow form - the shape indicated by a central rectangle and the tails shown by a three pointed shape. This style for portraying ribbons remained part of JM's style until the end of his career. I have enlarged the queue on the right above so that it can be seen clearly. Mrs. McKechnie states that ribbons were not painted in this way until label 7. The point at the back of the bust-line still remained very sharp. For the first time thinned pigment has been used outside the main body to show the sitter's short frill - note the form this takes.

Label No.6.(Small Leeds). This is photographed on the right. It seems this label was first used in 1783 and then intermittently until 1788, when JM arrived in London. Label 8 also overlapped with this label. As a result works backed with this varied considerably in style. Some were still of the plain black variety and others were very fine indeed - ladies with plenty of curls, ribbons and muslin similar to works backed with label 10. This label was the first to mention jewellery. Also there was no street address. Strangely I have rarely come across this label - it is far less common compared with label 8.

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Label No.7 (Liverpool) I have no examples to illustrate backed with this

label. You will need to refer to Mrs. McKechnie where she has four works -

p.658 illust.1309 - 1312. These show buffons, shirt frills and feathers painted in thinned pigment. Bust-lines are long with sharp points at the back. It seems that this label was only used for a short time when JM was working in Liverpool i.e. June 1785 - Jan.1786. Its wording is identical to that on label 8 except for an added sentence at the bottom of the oval on the latter label. Without a label it would be difficult to attribute works to No 7, as there was obviously an overlap with other labels i.e. Nos.6 & 8.

Label No.8. In this section there are photographs of 5 works backed with this label. Some wonderful silhouettes were painted under this label. Below are two of these. The young lady on the left with the fancy hat is the daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch. Her parents and three sisters were also painted by JM at the same time. With the exception of the lady below, all are owned by a member of the S.C.C. and I think, show JM at his best. The family are housed in pressed brass frames. These frames are not as ‘grand’ as the later pear wood frames but I think suit the work better! Note the shape of her curls and the dark ribbons amongst the transparency of her hat. She has a sharp point at the back of her bust-line, but this is concealed with her curls. On her right is another young woman with a veiled head-dress and the typical JM dark ribbons with pointed ends and a rectangular cut-out. This work has some? leaching from the thinned pigment of her head-dress, which gives a faint outline to this. Various suggestions have been made to explain this ‘effect’ such as the failure of the pigment setting. It has obviously happened over the course of time. I do not find it detracts from the silhouette but I am sure some collectors disagree.

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On this page above are two further photographs. On the left is a young boy. I think he is quite delightful with the little lock of hair on his forehead and the typical almost 'sausage-like' curls at his back. Note the form of his shirt frill and buttons. The sharp point at the back is still there! On his right is a youngish gentleman. He has the typical queue bow and the slight 'fuzz' to show the texture of his hair. He has a bushy eyebrow and a nice upswept eyelash. His shirtfront is quite simply painted without hatching. This shirt frill combined with the queue bow attributes the work to JM without reference to its label. On this work JM has not used shadows to outline the queue bows - but these have been used on the gent photographed on the next page. JM adopted this shadow motif shortly before moving to London and it remained a feature of his work to the end. The greatly enlarged photo on the gent's right shows the shadows clearly. The gent is a Mr. Gilbert Dyer. He was painted by JM in 1787 ? in Ilkley, Yorks. Several members of his family were painted by JM (4 brothers & a sister). All were part of the Morgan May Collection at some point. Two are illustrated in his book "A Master of Silhouette". Over the years I have attempted to trace the Dyer family through the vicar of Ilkley, but without success. Possibly the family were prominent landowners at the time - or I like to think so! I have photographed Mr. Dyer in his pressed brass frame - to show the frame and to emphasise how well he sits in the frame.

Label No.8. (Travellinq). This label is photographed below Mr. Dyer. Mrs. Mc-Kechnie takes the view that this label was printed when JM went to Manchester in June 1786 - it was possibly used when he went to Edinburgh later that year when perhaps he painted the Buccleuch Family. She thinks it was probably not used when he went to live in Edinburgh in 1787 just before he came to London.

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He is likely to have reverted to label No.6 at this time. It is called "Travelling" due to the sentence at the base of the oval. This can be seen clearly in the photograph and was only appropriate whilst JM was on the move.

Labels Nos,9a & 9b. These are rare labels used by JM for the backs of jewellery cases painted c.1783-88. JM's jewellery is the subject of another article!

Label No.10. As Mrs. McKechnie states "work bearing this label is very fine". It represents the zenith of JM's career as a profile artist. Photographed on the next page are two ladies backed by this label. The lady on the left is unknown and she is housed in a turned wood frame. (Apologies for the quality of the photo.) The lady on the right is the Countess of Hopetoun and she is housed in a grand pearwood frame with verre eglomise inset. Both are attractive works. They show the â la conseilleur hairstyle worn by fashionable ladies, which gave JM scope to show the blending of curls, ribbons and muslin with consummate skill.

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The back of the bust-line is covered by the curls and draperies of the head-dress, but according to Mrs. McKechnie the point at the back still remains sharp. Ribbons are painted in transparency with great effect - with the exception of the one bow at the back of the Countess's head. Note the shape of the curls on both ladies - the curls are separated rather than being painted in a 'mass'. Men's queue bows under this label would be painted with a shadow behind - also shirt frills had 'developed' - I will illustrate these features on the next page. Pressed brass frames were still in use for a time with this label.

Label No.10 (l62 Strand) This label is photographed on the right - it is from the back of the Countess. The label was in use from Dec.1788 until May 1791.It was in this year when JM moved to his second London address i.e. 111 Strand. It is accepted that JM was joined by pupils and assistants at 111 but was definitely working on his own until the move. How many pupil and/or assistants it is not clear - although we do know he was joined by John Field sometime after this date!

On the next page are two 'problems'!

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Both these gentlemen have ‘lost’ their labels over the years. The problem is – with what label did they start out on their respective ‘journeys’? Gent no. 1 is housed in a grand frame identical to the countess’s on the previous page. He has shadows behind his queue bow. His shirt frill provides some clues. The enlargement photograph shows a more finished style than hitherto – although this was developing under JM’s label 8. Mrs. McKechnie illustrates a similar shirt frill on p.681 illus.1148. This is taken from the work illus. 1327 on an earlier page in her book. I think there is little doubt that this gent was backed with label 10. Gent no. 2 photographed on the right is of the Hon. C. Napier. He was acquired a number of years ago, when he failed to reach his reserve (too ugly I fear!). He is housed in a turned wood frame, but I think was in a pressed brass frame. He has no shadows on his bow but the shape of the bow is ‘typical’ of JM’s work. His shirt frill ‘format’ is very similar to that of gent no. 1, but with less of a flourish. He has a sharp point at the back of his bust-line.

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I think he would have been backed with label 8 or possibly label 6. In my view both these silhouettes have been painted by JM himself.

Label No.11. There are numerous works in collections backed by this label. For years we have referred to these as being "by Mr. Miers". However, we have known since the publication of Mrs. McKechnie's Book in 1978 that these works are more than likely to have been painted by John Field than by JM himself. There is also a possibility that the silhouettes were painted by the mysterious 'X' whom Mrs.McKechnie was unable to identify. Nevertheless she was quite clear that this artist had his/her distinctive style that was recognisable (not always easy in my view!) She was certain that 'X' was not T. Lovell (who was Mier's pupil for a time) or William Miers (JM's son who was not an artist). Above are photographs of a Mr.& Mrs. Fox. ex Jack Pollak collection. I just assumed these were by JM. Mrs. Fox still has her label but Mr. Fox's is missing. Looking at Mr.& Mrs. Fox with some care I have decided that both are 'X' work. Both are very similar to 'X' work illustrated in the Book i.e. a gent on p. 661 illus.1331 and a lady on p.662 illus.1332. Both have the blunt point at the back of the bust-line, which is not highly curved. Mr. Fox's frill is in the form of dark areas against light areas - whereas his queue ribbons are rather meanly portrayed. Mrs. Fox's ribbons are all painted in transparency with no emphasis. Her curls are in a bunch and not separated in any way. Neither has the sort of detail outside the main body that JM would paint in my view. Both are housed in pearwood frames with verre eglomise borders – so are likely to have been painted before 1800 -when papier-mache frames were in use.

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Mrs.McKechnie states that "most of the few silhouettes bearing this label by Miers himself, which have been seen, are repeat silhouettes painted after 1800" To be recognisable as a work by JM there would be shadows behind the gents' queues and the style would be similar to those painted under label 10. I have no such work in my Collection but one is illustrated in the Book. -p.661 illus.1330. I just wonder what JM was doing with his time between 1791 (when label 10 ceased to be in use) and 1800 when he was painting copies of earlier work! Perhaps 'sorting' his duplicate profiles and managing the business took most of his time. We do not know the exact date that John Field joined JM - it is likely to have been about 1793-94. We know he was firmly 'established' by 1801 and effectively the sole artist after this date. Above on the right is an enlarged photograph of a somewhat irritable gent backed with label 11 and housed in a similar frame to those of Mr.& Mrs. Fox. In my view, he has been painted by John Field - note his much more sloping bust-line with a more emphasised point at the back. The sharpness of this point does vary somewhat but is never as blunt as that on 'X' work. His queue ribbons and stock tie are pale and there is some hatching on the tie, which is difficult to see from the photograph. This could not have been painted by JM. On the gent's left is the photograph of a young lady also backed with label 11. The texture of her hair is nicely painted but she has little detail outside the main body. She is housed in a papier-mache frame with a star hanger. She is very similar to the young woman illustrated in the Book on p.664 illus. 1346, although she is backed with label 12. She is painted by John Field, probably on the early 1800's but more likely after 1812 or so, There was probably an overlap with labels 11 & 12!

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On this page are photographs of labels 11 & 12 side by side. I am afraid that the printing on both is a little pale - problem with the developing I suspect!

Label No.11. (Burnished gold) This is on the left and is at the back of the young lady on the previous page. This label was used from 1791 to 1809 or possibly later for plain black profiles. Mr. Morgan May states in his book that this label was not only used for work on plaster - he had seen it used for work on card. The name "Burnished gold' is from the verre eglomise glass that JM used for his superior frames and is especially mentioned on the label, the label was not used for bronzed work by John Field.

Label No.12 (Double-letter). This is on the right and is from the back of a silhouette photographed on the next page. Mrs. McKechnie records that the label was first used in July, 1810 and that it was in used as late as July1821 after JM's death. It was used mainly for bronzed work in papier-mache frames although as you will see from over the page it was also used for plain black works. It is named "Double-letter" as JM's name is printed in hollow letters. There could be works by JM himself backed with this label but are likely to be 'repeats' and will have the customary queue shadows and be in the style of work backed with label 10. Bronzed work by John Field backed with the label is not the subject of this article. It merits an article on its own. This work is regarded by many collectors as the finest work produced by a silhouette artist. Many of the frames backed with this label were in papier-mache with ormulu leaf hangers and ormulu 'matting' surrounds.

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Above is a photograph of a gent painted in plain black backed with label 12. I bought him in my very early collecting days and was thrilled that I had managed to acquire such a 'perfect' Miers with an unbroken label! Now I know better! It is clearly by John Field -painted in his customary neat & competent style and is no less desirable for that!

General Summary. Mrs. McKechnie regarded JM as the finest profilist of the 18th.century. Desmond Coke stated when referring to JM -"It must be said of him, indeed all his portraits, of whatever period have an air of life that is utterly convincing". (p.63 "Art of Silhouette") Nevertheless he did not put JM at the top of his list - he gave Mrs. Beetham that place. To quote from John Woodiwiss, he wrote " ...the marvellous results obtained by the Leeds master show that he possessed an artistic genius which placed him head and shoulders above the bulk of his rivals." He saw JM's greatest skills being displayed in his silhouettes of women, with the trimming of ribbons, muslin, hats, head-dresses & feathers painted in diaphanous shades of grey. Mrs. Jackson, considered his portraits had great character and "are never simpering or insipid". She critised him for the bronzing for which he was not responsible! Arthur Mayne, referred to JM as "The Incomparable John Miers" but I do not think he was completely won over by JM! Similarly Jack Pollack had his reservations and he had a big influence on Mr. Mayne. However, both appreciated works of JM, which showed him at his best. There is little doubt that JM influenced many other artists of the period - many who copied his style to some extent such as Samuel Houghton, Thomas Lovell, T Smith and Mrs. Lightfoot. His output was phenomenal even allowing for Mr. Field! Over the years a great many of these works have survived intact and reach the salerooms on a regular basis. He was the originator of black profiles on white plaster - an inspiration in itself. Above is the photocopy of a wonderful example ex. Wellesley Collection, which we would all like to possess!