There is an old expression in English in which something expensive is referred to as “costing an arm and a leg”. Popular legend traces the origins of this expression to nineteenth century portrait painters, who did, indeed, charge more for larger or more detailed portraits. As the legend would have it, though, a head and shoulders painting was the cheapest portrait option. Those that included arms and legs were incrementally more expensive; and full body portraits, requiring the most detail and proportion, were, of course, the priciest.
Popular legend aside, no printed price scale or other historical evidence has ever been found to suggest that mainstream portrait painters varied their prices by limb count. There is reason to believe, however, that lesser trained, itinerant (nomadic) painters, who negotiated prices verbally and rarely left written clues as to their dealings, might have indeed charged more for limbs — if for no other reason than to dissuade clients from requesting more complex portraits. (Many self-taught, itinerant painters of the early nineteenth century who traveled rural America, in particular, struggled with symmetry. This tended to be most noticeable in their depictions of hands, arms and legs. Today, portraits by such untrained artists are typically referred to as “folk art” and often command high prices. In their day, however, a “quirky” looking portrait often risked a paying customer’s rejection. Thus, one can easily see why some lesser trained painters would try to steer clients in the direction of simpler portrait options.)
Body Parts
While etymologists continue to debate the origin of pricey arms and legs, evidence has been found to suggest that body parts did play a role of another kind amongst well-trained, established artists in urban areas. Today’s featured portrait serves as a perfect example.
Portrait of a Pre-Victorian Era English Gentleman with Strikingly Blue Eyes
Artist: thus far unidentified
Date/age: dated 1833 (181 years ago, as of this writing)
Size: 2 3/8″ tall x 1 7/8″ wide (unframed); 4 3/8″ tall x 4 5/8″ wide (framed)
Medium: watercolor and gouache on thin ivory wafer
At first glance, one assumes that our featured portrait is much like any other finely painted miniature portrait. The subject’s facial features are superbly well painted with sharp detail, subtle shading and a natural blend of color tones. On closer examination, however, a hidden secret is revealed. This is most easily seen when viewing the portrait outside of its frame, at an angle and with light from the side, as is displayed below.
A photo of how our miniature portrait appears when removed from its frame, viewed at an angle and illuminated from its side.
A photo of the portrait when viewed directly, as one would normally see it.
In the first photo above, one can clearly tell that the subject’s body is painted in quite a different manner than his face is. Specifically, the gentleman’s face, as noted previously, is painted with fine detail, subtle shading and natural color balance. His clothing, however, is painted vaguely, with large brush strokes, flat colors and a one-dimensional appearance.
“Why would this be,” you wonder, “and why is it only noticeable when viewed at an angle?”
The Secret Revealed
Our featured portrait is an example of what I like to call “fast food portraiture”. No, it is not food, and it certainly wasn’t painted in a restaurant; but this type of portraiture has much in common with the fast food industry of our modern era. That is to say, it was faster, cheaper, and more conveniently acquired than traditional portraiture. Naturally, it was also considered to be of lesser quality and offered less customization than its full-service, traditional alternative.
Fast food is typically prepared with ingredients that are partially prepared or precooked in advance; and fast food meal options are pre-fixed choices that one typically orders while looking at samples or signs with photos. “Fast food portraits” were made and sold in a very similar manner (hence my use of the term).
Such portraiture emerged in the early nineteenth century, as the English middle class became a proportionately larger economic force than it had been in previous centuries. With this growing middle class, which had money to spend (albeit less than richer compatriots), entrepreneurship also flourished, as individuals in every profession sought creative ways to convince this middle class to part with its hard-earned sterling. The arts were no exception, albeit to the chagrin of traditionalists and purists.
It was against this economic backdrop, in the early nineteenth century, that a small group of entrepreneurial portrait painters emerged to offer affordable art to the masses. They would rent small storefronts in well trafficked urban areas (London, Birmingham, and the like) and draw potential customers in with attractive window displays. Upon entering the store, a customer would encounter a larger display of sample portraits of various sizes and poses, each offered at cheaper prices than traditional portrait options. Of course, the samples looked appealing and potential customers were typically eager to see how their own face would look on such a portrait; and, thus, the sale was made. As the eager customer entered the painter’s sitting area, he or she was focused on their personal appearance and on wanting to inspire a handsome likeness. Thus, they most likely didn’t notice that the artist started his or her work not with a blank canvas, but with one upon which a body had already been pre painted.
Therein lies the secret revealed by our featured portrait. The reason why the gentleman’s clothing appears to be painted differently than his face is because it isn’t his clothing. Rather, the painter had removed from his drawer an ivory wafer upon which he had already painted a generic suit — a pre painted body that was waiting for a head. (As an interesting aside, there are some who have referred to such portrait painters as “head hunters”, as they had drawers full of body parts and were in search of heads to complete their work.)
The beauty of our featured portrait lies in the fact that the gentleman’s face is so well painted — so well, in fact, that one doesn’t notice the dark and vaguely painted body upon which his head was “attached”. Indeed, if one did not view the portrait under angled light, he or she would likely never know that the “body” was painted earlier and with different paint. More to the point, the subject of our miniature portrait likely didn’t care, as he was surely pleased with how well the artist captured his facial features. No doubt, he was also pleased with with how quickly he was able to receive his finished product — at a speed that simply would not have been possible had the artist needed to paint the fine details of his customer’s clothing.
Closeup view of a portion of the portrait, showing the fine detail with which the subject’s face was painted. While observing the painter’s talented application of tiny brush strokes, note that the subject’s head, from the top of his hair to the bottom of his chin, is only one inch tall. The irises of his eyes, likewise, are a mere 1/16 of an inch in diameter.
View of the miniature portrait as it appears in its handsome, ebonized frame. Excluding its acorn finial and bale, the frame measures 4 3/8″ tall x 4 5/8″ wide.
The Finished Product
When the subject of our portrait returned to his painter’s storefront at the end of the day (remember, the painting had to be left with the painter long enough for its watercolor paint to dry), he was presented with a handsomely framed finished product. The ivory wafer upon which the portrait had been painted, was enclosed behind glass andset within an ebonized papier-mâché “acorn frame” (so named because of the acorn shaped finial that typically adorned the top of such frames). Adding a refined elegance to the framed piece is a slip mount inner frame of gilded brass.
Attractive as this framing might be, one should note that such papier-mâché frames were mass produced in the early and mid nineteenth century. This, of course, made them more affordable — something that lent itself very well to “fast food portraiture”.
Closeup view of the rear of our portrait’s simple, papier-mâché frame, focusing on the mark of the frame’s manufacturer, which reads, “W. HIL & Co, BIRM’m”. The manufacture of various papier-mâché products (from portrait frames to decorative trays to furniture parts to architectural ornamentation) was well established in Birmingham, England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Historical Context
Sadly, the painter of our featured portrait did not sign his work, so we are left with no way to identify who he (or she) may have been. Within the frame, however, to the rear of the portrait, is the notation of a date: September 27, 1833. Thus, we can at least pinpoint the exact time our portrait was painted.
In 1833, King William IV was in the third year of his short, seven-year reign as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. (William IV had ascended the throne upon the death of his brother George IV — the last of a long line of “Georgian” kings. Upon his own death, he was succeeded by his niece, Alexandrina Victoria, who, in 1837, at the age of 18, ascended the throne as Queen Victoria.)
In 1833, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl of Grey, was in the third of his four-years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Earl Grey is probably most well remembered today for Earl Grey tea, a blend of dark, citrus flavored tea that was named after him. He deserves more notable fame, however, for authoring Great Britain’s sweeping Reform Bill of 1832 (an instrument of parliamentary and voter reform). In 1833, his administration also ushered in the abolition of slavery throughout the larger British Empire.
Of perhaps more popular interest, in 1833, acclaimed British author Charles Dickens published his first work of fiction, titled, A Dinner at Poplar Walk, later retitled, Mr. Minns and his Cousin.
Outside of Great Britain, in 1833, Andrew Jackson was in the first year of his second term as President of the United States. A year earlier, the Blackhawk War raged from Illinois to Wisconsin; and the six-year campaign known as the Trail of Tears began, during which which Indians were removed from their homes on the American east coast and transplanted to western frontiers. Three years earlier, in 1830, Joseph Smith first published his Book of Mormon and founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Conclusion
While some might consider our featured portrait to be less desirable than one that is entirely custom painted, it does have a certain charm; and one must certainly give credit to the artist for his fine execution of the sitter’s face. This type of antique portrait is considered highly collectible and is valued for its historical significance as a fine example of early commercial portraiture, a precursor to what would later evolve into photographic portraiture.
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Copyright © 2014 Michael Tormey. All rights reserved. All images contained herein are the property of Michael Tormey unless specifically noted otherwise.
