Phelps, William (SCC Newsletter July 1997)

W. J. Phelps

HIS WORKING METHODS.

Mr. Phelps seems to have been a relatively rare artist. Little has been written about his work in recent years - so I propose to remedy this to some extent. Past writers on silhouettes have had reservations about his work. Mrs. Jackson remarked that the three portraits she possessed by Phelps in colour "are I think the most beautiful amongst the thousands in my cabinet" but she did not consider these to be the most correct "as shadow portraits should be black only"! Mr. Woodiwiss took a somewhat similar line and stated “illegitimate shadow portraiture no doubt but most pleasant to look at"! Indeed I used to take a similar view in my early collecting days and actually got rid of a coloured silhouette because it did not meet the criteria. It was not a Phelps thank goodness! Inspite of these purist reservations I think most Collectors would regard a Phelps as a highly desireable part of their Collection - colour or no!

Little is known about Mr. Phelps' background or early history. All we know is where he worked for a time - i.e. Drury Lane, London. His landlord was Mr. Wilson, the Watchmaker, who had two addresses in the Lane - No. 132 from 1781-84 and No. 152 from 1784-Nov. 88. Whether Mr. Phelps was there during all these times is not clear or where he went afterwards. There is no record of a silhouette painted by him after 1791. It has been suggested that he was perhaps "over-whelmed or frightened off by Mr. Miers, who had set-up in the Strand and who was very prolific and sucessful. We do not know if this was so - but for whatever reason his output was very much less khan that of Mr. Miers. Also I do not think it is likely that there are dozens of works by Mr. Phelps waiting to be discovered by keen and industrious collectors! We do not know when or where he died.

In this article I propose to look in some detail at his known methods of working and perhaps to be so bold as to re-categorise Mrs. McKechnie's entries in her Book! I have read other writers who have looked at his work and I will list my references at the end of this article. Some of these writers seem to be somewhat 'confused' as to whether Mr. Phelps actually painted directly

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onto paper or just pasted his cut-outs onto the paper. Likewise whether he ever painted on glass as stated on his rare label. Mrs. McKechnie stated that he painted extra detail after he had pasted his cut-out on the backing 'material’ to conceal the cut edges - this I think is questionable. Similarily whether he 'built-up' his cut-outs by adding parts of bonnets and buttons on men's jackets etc. I am not going to claim that all will be revealed below but I will have a try!

Mrs. McKechnie put Mr. Phelps in 4 sections of her Book :‑

Sec. 2 - Painted on card or paper - no examples had been located by her.

Sec. 3 - Painted on glass - no examples located here either.

Sec. 4 - Painted on plaster - rare in her view. She did not include colour examples

Sec. 7 - Painted costume in full or part colour. This was her main section on the artist and covered all his work using colour, whether it was painted directly on plaster or was a cut-out pasted on plaster. She did not record that some cut-outs were actually pasted on paper.

I am going to divide Mr. Phelps' work into somewhat different catagories. I will then look at each in turn and illustrate with examples:‑

1. Those painted directly onto plaster :‑

(a) Those painted with some colour.

(b) Those painted in the style of (a) but in black & white only.

(c) Those painted in black only.

2. Buff laid paper cut-outs with painted detail.

(a) Those pasted on plaster.

(b) Those pasted on paper.

Now to be more specific!

1. (a) Those painted directly onto plaster with some colour.

An example of this work is Miss Mostyn (illustrated below from a black and white photo - her sash is painted in colour). Originally she was part of the

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Wellesley Collection and then Desmond Coke's - she was sold by him in 1931 together with her brother Sir Edward (also as a child) and two young americans in "revolutionary uniforms all painted on plaster by Mr. Phelps. "Incidently all 4 were sold for 8 gns.!) I do not know where she is now. Another example is the attractive high hatted lady in her tuquoise dress - she is illustrated in both Mrs. Jackson's books and is frequently reproduced now and sold in souvenir shops over the country. The young woman in pink is a wonderful example of Mr. Phelps' artistry - apologies for the shadow on her photo but it was a very sunny day! She is illustrated in Mrs. McKechnie's and Mr. Mayne's books.

1. (b) Painted in black & white (& thinned pigment.)

Two fine examples of his work were sold at Sothebys on 4th. February, 1980-they are of Mr. & Mrs. Charles Hill. Both are signed on the versa by Mr. Phelps and are dated 1790. I have photocopied these above from the catalogue illustration -inevitably it does not do them justice. I think there is no doubt that Mrs. McKechnie would have used the Hill pair for illustration in her Book if she had known that they existed.

As you will see the bust-line terminations of both 1 (a) & (b) vary - some going to the base of the frame and others not. The painting on the whole seems to be in a freer style than that of the cut-outs - the hair & curls in particular are looser. It may be that the medium plays a part and the painting had to be done more quickly than that on paper - or possibly Mr. Phelps felt freer!.

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1. (c) Those painted in black only.

See Mrs. McKechnie page 672 for the only two recorded examples of this type of work. I have photographed both from the Book. Detail is difficult to see, but in fact there is little detail. The hair is treated in a way that does not immediately lead one to think of Mr. Phelps as the artist - although there are some 'pointers'. Bust-lines are of the usual convexity/concavity type, but are not identical. The work is not unlike work done by other artists at the time including Mr. Miers. It is possible that Mr. Phelps was not so happy with this style or it is equally possible that over the years some of his work of this kind has been attributed to others -especially if labels and iinscriptions have been removed.

2. (a) Buff laid paper cut-outs painted on plaster.

These works provide Mr. Phelps's 'hall-mark' and include his bonnetted ladies and his yellow waistcoated gentlemen. Mr.& Mrs. Twigge at the beginning of this article are examples - Mrs. Twigge is illustrated in Mrs. McKechnie and both are in Mr. Mayne's book. They were for many years part of the Pollak Collection Another example is the gentleman photographed on the next page - he was sold at Bonhams Sale on 9th. November, 1995 and was in the Christie Collection. These silhouettes are cut-out from buff laid paper - all detail is painted and the buff colour of the paper is shown on the bonnets of the ladies, their buffons as well as the neckwear of the men. It has been suggested by Mrs. McKechnie & others that there was skillful overpainting of the cut edges. So far I have not been able to detect this on the examples I have examined. I have asked other Collectors to look at look at their works and they have not been able to find this 'detail' either. I think Mr. Phelps completed the cut-out as an entity and then stuck it onto whatever background the sitter wanted. Having said this it is clear from the gent with the loose button that buttons in some cases at least were stuck on separately. Whether parts of the bonnets were also I do not know. One is reluçtent to 'get into a Phelps' and examine it for this sort of detail as

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Collectors will easily understand! The eyelash is cut out in paper - sometimes in one with the rest of the cut-out or added separately. The eye-brow is often shown. Bust-lines are generally consistent for this type of work - the usual concavity/convexity . However Mrs. McKechnie illustrates a lady cut-out on plaster (page 755 illus. 1624.) where the silhouette goes to the base of the frame. Below I have photocopied two yellow waistcoated boys and a lady in pink who were sold at sales in the last ten years or so.

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2. (b) Buff laid paper cut-outs pasted on paper.

I have photographed a lovely young lady, who was also sold at the Christie Sale at Bonhams on 9th. November, 1995. I think it is possible to see from this photo that her background is not 'dead' white but a buffish colour indicating that she has been pasted onto paper. I think the effect is particularily attractive. The silhouette is illustrated in Mrs. McKechnie, although as I have mentioned it was thought that she was on plaster like many others in a similar style. The Rev. & Mrs Barker are also in this catagory (see article in this Newsletter on their 'rehabilitation'.) The Rev. is painted without colour, which should be noted. It is likely that there will be other examples without the use of colour mounted in this way. In other words Mr. Phelps followed the same pattern for those he painted directly onto the plaster - some were part-coloured and others were in black & white. I think it is unlikely that he painted plain black cut-outs, but I suppose it is not impossible. One just feels that these would not have shown his real talents or given him much satisfaction.

I think there is little doubt that Mr.Phelps painted his sitters in the colours in which they were dressed and he was perhaps particularily accurate in this respect. Mrs. McKechnie has suggested that this was the case. The style of painting in catagories 2. (a) & (b) tends to be 'tighter' - particularily in regard to the treatment of the hair - when compared with the painting of those 1. (a) to (c) of this article. I think this makes 'sense' as the cut-outs would be painted as a 'unit' and Mr. Phelps would have had time to paint with care - make alterations and touch-up if necessary - this would be more difficult when painting directly onto plaster.

Frames. All Phelps works that are known are presented in pressed brass frames-size approximately 3¾ - 3½ . He did not use pearwood frames as far as we know.

Labels. These are rare. Mrs. Jackson stated that she had seen 6 and that these tended to be on later works. The label is photographed in Mrs. McKechnie's Book on page 755 illus. 1625. The wording of the label is fully quoted by her on page 747 so I will not repeat it here. Mr. Phelps often wrote an inscription on the reverse of his work in a somewhat cursory style of handwriting. I have photographed one of these below from the silhouette of Mr. Twigge ("Died &

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the date has been added later by another hand.) Dates were obviously important to Mr. Phelps - he often put the day of the month as well as the year. He left a blank on his printed labels to insert the the date.

Work on Glass & the lady in a blue dress.

Mr. A. Mayne wrote an article in the Antique Collector dated June, 1970 - this was on the work of Mr. Phelps. He used quite a large part of the article to make out a case that the silhouette of the lady in a blue dress painted on glass and backed with wax was by Mr. Phelps.(I have illustrated this silhouette when recordinq the Club's Visit to Mr. & Mrs. Redpath.) He wanted to prove that Mr. Phelps did work on glass as stated on his label and that he was a very versatile artist. I regret that he was wrong in his thesis and this was acknowledged by Mrs. McKechnie. Mrs. McKechnie speculated that if Mr. Phelps had worked on glass that works might be rather plain 'if found'. She may be right and therefore difficult to attribute. I am inclined to take the view that the medium did not suit him - also at the time he would have had great competition from more skilled artists in this medium such as Mrs. Beetham & the Jordens. The lady in the blue dress is certainly not plain and it has now been acknowledged without doubt as being the work of Hinton Gibbs - so make a note of this when you see it illustrated in the literature.

References.

Mrs. McKechnie.- British Silhouette Artists & their Work 1760-1860.

Mrs. N. Jackson. The History of Silhouettes 1911 & Silhouettes Notes & Dictionary

Mr. A. Mayne. British Profile Miniaturists 1970 & "Parenthesis on Phelps" Jun.1970.

Mr. J. Woodiwiss. British Silhouettes 1965.