Angels Descending

This poignant silhouette is a touching reminder of the frequency of infant mortality during the early nineteenth century. The cut profile showing a little boy brandishing a toy whip and wearing a dress tied at the waist with a ribbon bow with ankle-length pantaloons and cute shoes with pompoms was most likely cut from life. It is lightly bronzed to show the detail of the dress and the hair. The cut angels overhead appear to have been a slightly later addition to symbolise his early death. The only clue to the child’s identity is an old indistinct label on the reverse of the frame with the name ‘Jenkins’ or ‘Jonkins’.

The silhouette is set behind old glass in a handsomely figured walnut veneer frame with a gilt slip.