Wigs on the Green has dated this piece to the Regency era.
The silhouette was painted on white plaster using a mixture of soot and beer before being expertly gilded. It is housed in the original papier-mâché frame with a decorative surround and ormolu leaf hanger. The frame is backed with the Miers studio label no. 12 - this label was used on John Field's best work. The sitter's name is written on the back in pencil but is too faint to read.
John Field (1772-1848) is prominently placed amongst the finest and most collectable silhouette artists working during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. His career began during the 1790s when he was taken on as an assistant to John Miers in his London studio. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two men and a prolific partnership that only ceased when Miers died in 1821. The business was at that point jointly willed to Field and Miers’s son, William, but the dynamics had clearly been altered too much as within a few years the business filed for bankruptcy. Field continued to paint profiles during the 1830s but from a studio that he now shared with his own son.
Wigs on the Green has dated this piece to the Regency era.
Small portraiture of character & historical interest
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Wigs on the Green Profile Page
John Field, Bronzed Silhouette
