Humphry Bawden JP

This silhouette is typical of Miers’ ability to achieve a crisp and recognisable profile without the use of gilt embellishment. All the details from the buttons on his coat and his frilly cravat to his wispy curls and less than straight nose have been finely painted on a white plaster base using a mixture of pine-soot and beer to create a strong contrast.

Born around 1777, the sitter Humphry John Norris Bawden was a Devonian having lived all his life in South Molton. In 1814 (possibly the year of this silhouette) he married a vicar’s daughter, Ann Gidoin Froude, from nearby Knowstone and with her reared a family of four. Bawden traded as a merchant exporting mainly to Italy. In the 1851 Census, by then in his seventies, he described himself as a magistrate, gentleman and landed proprietor.

In excellent condition, the silhouette is housed in its original papier-mâché frame with a decorative mount and beaded surround. For added grandeur, it has two star hangers with a later chain. The frame is backed with the artist’s trade label and inscribed with the sitter’s details.