Wigs on the Green has dated this Georgian Pastel Profile Portrait to the 18th Century.
A further sheet of paper painted in matching dark pastel has then been cleverly and almost seamlessly affixed behind this edge. This part-cut technique was unique to the Irish artist Nathaniel Bermingham who also specialised in decorative cut paper and painted coat-of-arms.
In fine condition, the portrait is presented in the original giltwood frame with a inner beaded border.
Born in Dublin around 1712, Nathaniel Bermingham served out an apprenticeship with a herald painter before moving to London to work as a cut paper and portrait artist. He came to an arrangement with the fashionable print shop owner Laetitia Pilkington whereby she was to pass off his work as hers for a third share of the profit. In her Memoirs, Laetitia colourfully described the young Bermingham as “a most ugly, squinting, mean-looking fellow” and, when she ended their short-lived partnership, "a low-born, ugly illiterate scoundrel". It appears though that Bermingham had some success with his work as by 1769 he was proudly advertising that royalty and nobility were amongst his clientele. A decade later he was found drowned at Chelsea, aged 70. Horace Walpole owned an example of Bermingham's cut paper work; another example can be found in the V & A Museum Collection.
Framed Size: 318 x 278mm (12½ x 11")
Literature: Memoirs of Mrs Pilkington 1912-1750, Repr. 1928
Wigs on the Green has dated this Georgian Pastel Profile Portrait to the 18th Century.
Small portraiture of character & historical interest
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Wigs on the Green Profile Page
Rare Pastel & Cut-Out Profile by Nathaniel Bermingham
