Readhead, H, Mr (SCC Newsletter July 2000)

Mr H. Readhead

BY MR. H. READHEAD I Think !

Illustrated below is the unattributed silhouette of a rather plumpy middle-aged lady described as "English School 1820" in the sale catalogue. She was part of Lot 9 in the sale of silhouettes & miniatures at Christie's South Kensington on 28th. October 1997. She was accompanied by another silhouette of a young lady by Edward Foster. The pair were bought by a Member of the S.C.C. for £450 (est. 220 - 300) - a good buy!

She is housed in a papier mache frame with an oval 23¾ ins. high. She is beautifully and delicately painted on the back of convex glass. She is wearing a gauzy dormeuse-type bonnett with ribbons, and a buffon to cover her decolletage, which is edged with a shallow ruff around the neck. She has another frill at the top of her dress - on which the waist and details of the sleeve are shown. Her costume dates her to the period 1785 - 1800 depending whether she was dressed in the height of fashion. She has a very distinctive bust-line termination with a sharp point at the armhole edge.

The only dark area is her face. The silhouette is painted with minute strokes and stippled dots -the latter probably achieved with a fine needle. There is a dark mass of dots to show her armhole and another mass beneath the frill at the top of her dress to emphasise detail. Also, a nice firm eyelash is shown. This technique is the same used by Lea of Portsmouth on the faces of his sitters - but this lady is not by him!

I have looked at the work of painters on glass who were working during the period 1785 - 1800 or so. I have eliminated Mrs. Beetham as her style is easily recognisable. Also, she uses finger printing and there is no sign of this on our lady. The Jorden Brothers paint the face and the main body of the silhouette in solid black and then add their finer details outside this. Mr. Rosenberg could not have painted this lady if he had tried I suspect!

Hamlet the Elder had quite a different bust-line termination. It is not Jolliffe's style or that of Mrs. Hudson. Rider & Bazing is a thought but again I have discarded this possibility. I looked into the style of these artists in my article in the March Newsletter and I am sure they did not have a hand in this silhouette. I have finally come up with Mr. H. Readhead. Hopefully, I think I am on to a winner! Mr. Readhead is a rare artist, who was known to be working c.1791 - which would fit with the date of our lady. No women painted by him have been recorded so we cannot make a comparison. However, Mrs. McKechnie in her Book has illustrated two men by him on page 596. Illus. 1135 has a bust-line termination very like our lady - also the massed stippled dots are used in the same way on his clothing. The other man (illus.1136) has a somewhat different bust-line but is painted in the same way.

Works have been attributed to Readhead over the years incorrectly but I am fairly confident that I have attributed the lady correctly! It is not impossible that some of you may have works by Mr. Readhead - if you do please let me know with a photograph if possible. This is the only way we learn more about these artists we collect.

I am grateful to the owner of this silhouette for making it possible to take her photograph.