Readhead, Henry (SCC Newsletter January 2010)

SCC 10 Jan

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H. Readhead fl. c.1791

A fine eighteenth century artist - whose works rarely appear.

Introduction

When Mrs. McK. published her Book in 1978 she had only seen two works by this artist - one she had owned but had sold, and the other was in a Collection. She knew of the existence of other works from Mrs. Jackson's "Dictionary" (who then owned Mr. & Mrs. Dales) and from "One Hundred Silhouette Portraits" from the Wellesley Collection (which contained Mr. Howard.) These three works were not available for Mrs. McK. to examine. I have illustrated Mrs. Dales at the top of the page. Mr. Howard will be illustrated later in this article. In addition I have trawled through a large number of sale catalogues for Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonhams - some as far back as the 1960's, and I have only been able to find one entry for a Readhead. This turned out to be for Mrs. Dales, who was sold by Sotheby's in 1976. All this confirms the rarity of works by this artist. Recently I was able to buy Mrs. Dales and the purchase has provided the impetus for this article.

In the following pages I will look at the little we know about the artist and his career and also, consider why he is so rare. Then I will look at his style and painting technique - illustrating this with his extant silhouettes. Finally, I will mention three works that have been ascribed to Readhead - two are clearly not by him in my view and the third could be a work by him. John Woodiwiss, in his book "British Silhouettes" describes Readhead as being "certainly among the finest profilists of his time" and he goes on to add "this brilliant painter was evidently no showman". I think this latter remark probably accounts for the paucity of information we have about him - as all know well that many silhouettists were only too happy to advertise their wares!

His Background.

We know virtually nothing about this - it is unlikely that more will be discovered in the future. Even the spelling of his name has presented problems. Mrs. Jackson in her first book "History of Silhouettes" published in 1911 had an entry, which spelt his name as Redahead, however, in her `Dictionary" published in 1938, when she had become the owner of Mr. & Mrs. Dales, the spelling was Redhead! However, on a handwritten label his name was spelt with the extra 'a' and gives his first name initial as 'H' Mrs. McK. accepted that Readhead was the correct spelling.

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The spelling problems with his name have made the searching of records difficult. Also, the only recorded label of his (which is hand written) gives an address at which he was not resident - it was only an address at which he worked. This was 54, Upper Norton Street, Fitzroy Square (this is now Bolsover Street). As he was not a ratepayer at this address all searches for the relevant years produced nothing. However, the property was in an area frequented by many artists at the time. It has been assumed that he was not an itinerant artist - as there are no records of newspaper advertisements about his work or travels. The date 1791 is on the reverse of Mrs. Dales, so we know that he was working at that date but as far as the length of his career is concerned we have no idea.

The rarity of his works may indicate that he had a relatively short career and possibly turned to other activities for his living. There is little doubt that his method of working would be very time consuming, as I shall explain. Also, he may have found it difficult to compete with Mrs. Beetham and John Miers. Mrs. Foskett does not record him as a miniaturist - as she could not make any links with artists of the same name. Returning to his name again it is of interest that both John Woodiwiss and Arthur Mayne in their books on the subject used the spelling Redhead.

His Style and Technique

Above I have photographed a larger version of Mrs. Dales to show more detail. In the centre is an unknown man - ex. Sutcliffe-Smith as well as being illustrated in the Book on page 596 illus. 1136. On the right is Mr. G. Howard photographed from the Wellesley Collection book. The two men in size are 2.25" x 3.25" - whereas Mrs. Dales is somewhat smaller. The size is important, as Readhead's work is smaller than many of his contemporaries. Mr. Howard is illustrated in the Book on page 596 illus.1135.

His style has been most likened to that of Lea of Portsmouth. All his recorded works are painted on the underside of convex glass. The sitter’s faces are black unlike most of Lea's work. All clothing detail is achieved by fine stippling dots. These dots are small and very fine. He shows the demarcation by a closer mass of dots. These dots give an overall brownish colour – which John Woodiwiss has described as a “translucent brown". I should think a somewhat painful technique to say the least!

Mrs. McK. mentions that he made a point of showing his sitters eyebrows as well as carefully painting their ears -not possible I fear to see in the above examples, except in the case of Mr. Howard if greatly magnified. I can report that Mrs. Dales does not have an eyebrow! All recorded works have a bust-line termination - this takes two forms, firstly a single point at the back and secondly the addition of a point at the sleeve demarcation. These differences can be seen above. Both in Mrs. Dales and the man in the middle have the one and Mr. Howard on the right has the other.

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His works art backed with card. Ile claimed on his label to take only five minutes for a sitting, Mrs. McK. assumed from this that he probably did not use a machine for his outline and painted freehand. Attribution to Readhead, I think should not be a problem. The problem will be finding a work by him. In this connection it would be good to know what has happened to Mr. Dales, clearly the couple parted company over forty years ago, when she was unaccompanied, at Sotheby's in 1976. Do let me know if you have the gentleman!

Below I have illustrated Mrs. Dales In even more detail to show the wonderful work on her bonnet. Also, a detail from the unknown gentleman which is In the Book on page 612 illus. 1231. Both show the incredible detail of the stippling dots.

His Label.

The only label recorded is photographed in the Book on page 596 illus. 1137 (see below on the right) The text reads:- Mr. H. Readhead, Profilist, No.54, Upper Norton Street, Fitzroy Square. Time of sitting 5 minutes.” As you will see some of the lettering has worn away over the years. Apparently the work by Readhead that Mrs. McK. had sold, before she wrote the Book, had an identically worded label with the exception of the word "profilist', which was replaced by the word ‘fecit’. Mrs. Dales has no clear label, but I have photographed her reverse nevertheless below on the left. Clearly this has been 'tampered with' at different times. However, it still retains the Jackson Collection label and also records the address of the sitter - i e_ Woodhill & Beverley Park Farm, Beverley, Yorks, you will note that the artist's name has been spelt as Redhead by an owner at some point. It is dated November, 1791.

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His Frames

These vary - that of Mrs. Dales' is of a kind I have not seen before, but I have no reason to think it is not contemporary. It appears to be made of moulded papier mache and is very light in weight. Mr. Howard (ex. Wellesley Collection) is in a standard type papier mache frame with a verre eglomise border. The unknown gent is also in a papier mache frame but has a turned pearwood oval border.

False Readheads?

Firstly to be considered, a wonderful rather plumpy middle-aged lady - she was the subject of a short article in the July, 2000 Newsletter entitled "By Mr. H. Readhead - I think". She is beautifully and delicately painted in very fine stippling dots on the back of convex glass. She is wearing a gauzy dormouse-type bonnet with ribbons and a buffon to cover her decolletage. Her costume dates her to a period about 1785-1800. She has a distinctive bust-line terminating in three sharp points. Also, she has a small mass of dots at her sleeve demarcation.

In the article I briefly considered other painters on glass working during the relevant period. As a result I excluded Mrs. Beetham, Rosenberg, the Jorden Brothers, Rider & Basing, Jolliffe and Mrs. Hudson. Lea of Portsmouth ticked some of the boxes, but she is not by him. I finally came up with Mr. Readhead. Mrs. Dales silhouette was not available at the time for the purpose of comparison, but the lady is certainly somewhat larger in size, being 2¾" in height. Also, her dress does not have the brownish hue of Mrs. Dales - it gives a more greyish effect. I am still not entirely convinced that she is by Mr. Readhead, but I cannot think of any other artist. who is likely to have 'produced' her. Clearly, she is by a professional artist and would grace any collection.

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Above I have illustrated two further works that have been attributed over the years to Mr. Readhead. On the left is a silhouette that I own. Originally he was reproduced in Arthur Mayne's "British Profile Miniaturists" (illustration no. 33) He was described by the author as a work by Redhead (note spelling) and said to be painted on glass. In fact he is painted on card. Also, he is much larger than Readhead's authenticated works and is housed in an incredibly heavy frame made of slate! All references to Readhead have now been removed from the reverse of his frame backing! I do not know who he is by, but he is a desirable work and I think he was painted by a skilled artist sometime prior to 1800 One thing is certain he is definitely not by Readhead!

The gentleman on his right has also been attributed to Readhead at some point by an auction house and bears the name "Redhead" in ink on his reverse and he is painted on glass. Apart from his formal wig he shows very little detail especially on his clothing. I think he may be a legal gentleman. He appears to have a thin backing of wax but I have not ventured to remove his backing so far! His most prominent feature is his very bushy eyebrow - this may provide an attribution 'tool'. It is possible that he is by Parkin or a similar artist, who used wax as a backing, but he is not by Readhead. He does not appear to have any features of the work of Mr. Readhead - there is no evidence of fine stippling. He has no bust-line termination and he is nearly 3.25 “ in height. I think he would be difficult to date due to his Jack of clothing detail - so for the time being he must be described as "English School c. 1820"

In view of the rarity of Readhead's work It would be good to know if any of you have a work by him or as mentioned by chance own the ‘lost' Mr. Dales. If you do I would like to hear from you. A photograph of the work would be greatly appreciated if possible, as I am keen to add to the scant recorded knowledge that we have on this intriguing artist.