John Miers Silhouette c1795
Directory: Fine Art: Paintings: Miniatures: Pre 1800: Item # 1228827
Please refer to our stock # a1239 when inquiring.
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A very fine miniature bust length silhouette on natural organic material by John Miers. The piece is signed along the left side of the bust line. As is usual with his best examples, this painting shows very finely executed bronzed work. The interior of the top is glazed with a hairwork enclosed. Sight size is 1 1/8" by 7/8", and the locket size is 1 1/4" by 1".
Both the miniature and the locket are in excellent condition, with no issues.
NOTE: The following are excerpts from two reference works that discuss the importance of John Field and John Miers.
1. Ranking amongst the finest silhouette artists, John Field began his career as an assistant to John Miers during the 1790s. Theirs was to be a long and prolific partnership lasting until the death of Miers in 1821 when the business was jointly willed to Field and to Miers' son William. Most of the profiles painted on ivory at the studio of John Miers were actually painted by Field. He excelled at bronzing and his work in this area was unequalled.
2. John Field was originally Miers' apprentice and later his partner of many years. He inherited the business when John Miers died. It is possible that many of John Miers' later works were in fact executed by Field! The bronzing shown here is a feature of John Field's own style (that is, executed under his own name) and was apparently much criticized by John Miers, who felt that it was an unwarranted departure from the true shadow. Nevertheless, the sheer quality of John Field's work seems to override such criticism. The bronzing adds a third dimension to the work, and gives us the strange feeling of the subject emerging, as it were, out of a pool of light
SECOND NOTE: For a fine double-sided silhouette done by John Field please see item a1144 on this site.
