Wigs on the Green has dated this Victorian Cut Paper Silhouette to the 19th Century.
It is unclear whether this profile was cut from life or from recollection as sadly Cyrus died around this time.
Born in May 1841 at Ardwick Green in Lancashire, Cyrus sadly died less than two years later in January 1843. His death was announced in the Manchester Courier ‘… after a short affliction, Cyrus Slater Lomas aged 1 year 8 months & 3 days, only child of Mr Thomas Lomas, corn factor of Ardwick Green’.
His parents, Thomas and Mary, went on to have four daughters. The name Cyrus came from his mother’s side of the family: she had a little brother Cyrus, born in 1820 who died in 1823 as did her mother. Following her father’s re-marriage, she then had a step-brother named Cyrus born in 1824 who died in 1825. Despite having been an old family name for generations, Cyrus had apparently by the 19th century become an unlucky omen for a child.
The silhouette is cut out and is gilded with a watercolour wash base. It is stamped on the reverse with the artist’s stencil – P. Skeolan / Artist – and is set in the original rosewood frame with a gilt slip.
Born in Galway in 1815, Peter Skeolan was an itinerant silhouette and portrait artist working mostly in the north of England. The 1841 Census places him in Leeds working as a painter, by 1851 he is a miniature painter and profilist in Liverpool, by 1861 he is settled in Cheltenham as a miniature painter and photographer and in 1871 he is back north in Leeds working as a painter and photographer. He and his wife Margaret had two children: Peter Paul who joined the family business and Mary Jane. Skeolan died in Leeds in December 1871.
Framed Size: 282 x 230mm (11 x 9")
Provenance: By family descent
International Shipping: £30
Wigs on the Green has dated this Victorian Cut Paper Silhouette to the 19th Century.
Small portraiture of character & historical interest
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Wigs on the Green Profile Page
1843 Cut Silhouette of Cyrus Lomas by Skeolan
