Hervé, Henry I (McKechnie Section 6)

See Section One for main entry

On his trade labels Hervé refers to himself as 'Miniature and Profile Painter', and offers profiles painted on ivory. His portrait miniatures were probably painted on ivory, but, since he charges prices 'from one guinea upwards' for miniatures, he may have offered miniatures (in profile, or full face) on card at the minimum figure, charging more for those painted on ivory. Graves records ten miniatures exhibited at the Royal Academy; these are listed in Section One, where I suggest that a later exhibit (No. 721, 1843) was probably the work of Hervé's son Henry. Foskett illustrates no miniatures by Hervé, but Sidney Hand (Signed Miniatures, London, 1925) illustrates a portrait miniature of a man. Apparently painted on ivory (though Hand does not say), and showing a stippled background, the piece was framed in papier mâché and bore a trade label on the reverse; it appears to have been taken in c. 1815. The work appears to be of fairly high standard.

Hervé was also a copyist; on some of his trade labels he offers to make accurate copies of 'profiles of ail descriptions'.