Kelfe, M. Lane, Mrs (McKechnie Section 2)

See also Sections Three, Five and Seven

Little is known about this artist, of whose work only very few signed examples have been seen. Mrs Kelfe is recorded by Jackson (The History of Silhouettes), who mentions a profile by her (owned at that time by Coke) of a man named G. A. Girling: a military subject; she describes the profile as 'painted in black, with the uniform in grey relief. This profile, inscribed 'Fecit 16th. April, 1781, Bath', was probably the example illustrated by Coke in The Art of Silhouette. We also know (from a silhouette by her in the Victoria and Albert Museum) that Mrs Kelfe had been in Bath in 1781.

There is, however, in Mr J. A. Pollak's collection a profile of a woman taken by Mrs Kelfe at Southampton, backed with the only printed trade label of hers that I have seen and dating from a few years earlier, c. 1778. This is the earliest known example of Mrs Kelfe's work as a silhouette artist, although it is clear from the label that she had worked during the previous season in Southampton. In the Bristol Art Gallery there are a pair of profiles (of the Reverend James Benetto and his wife, the former illustrated in this section, the latter in Chapter Six), signed and dated by Mrs Kelfe at Fowey, Cornwall,

in 1794.

869, 184

After that year we lose sight of her. Mrs Kelfe's known career, then, spans sixteen years. Yet, apart from the few examples illustrated in this Section, another profile attributed to her in Section Seven and a third (also attributed to her, but with less certainty) in Section Five, very little of her work can be seen in British museums or in private collections. Her changes of style, moreover, make attribution especially difficult.

Only two advertisements by Mrs Kelfe are known to me. One, recorded by Coke, is quoted later in this entry. The other (which is a year earlier) I discovered in an issue of the Bath Chronicle dated 17 April 1784:

Ladies and Gentlemen's Profiles taken with the greatest accuracy by Mrs. Kelfe, who has been favoured with the encouragement of the company in Bath several preceding seasons; and now exhibits (in her apartment at

Mr. Youngclass, confectioner, bottom of Bond Street) correct Likenesses of Nobility & Gentry to the amount of upwards of 1400, a copy of any which may be had at a very short notice. Those who prefer to have their portrait enamelled on glass, may have them done in an approved style.

There being another person in the same line in the same house, Mrs. Kelfe begs to caution her friends from mistakes by desiring them to observe her name is on the door of her apartment.

Specimens on paper, sattin, & enamel, may likewise be seen at Mr. Ricard's, Print-Shop, in Bond Street.

It is evident from this that Mrs Kelfe had already executed some fourteen hundred profiles by 1784. In this advertisement the term 'enamelled' clearly means 'painted on glass', but in the later advertisement glass and enamel are mentioned separately and indicate different techniques. At the time of writing, no extant work either on glass or on enamel can be attributed to her. Nor are there any surviving profiles by her painted on or backed with satin. The satin which was used for backing glass silhouettes during the eighteenth century is usually, on surviving examples, in a brittle condition today, and the backing, at least, of any such profiles painted by her might by now have disintegrated. Since no other advertisements can be found in contemporary Bath newspapers by other artists 'in the same line', the rival profilist mentioned by Mrs Kelfe remains mysterious. The most likely possibility is that this was Mrs Harrington, who was sometimes in Bath during the spring.

It is clear, from a silhouette in my collection, that Mrs Kelfe was in Oxford during 1783. She also visited Bath during that year (see the advertisement quoted below). Jackson owned a profile of the Reverend John Gatliff, inscribed, 'M. Lane Kelfe, fecit, Oxford, 1784'. From this admittedly scattered and incomplete evidence, it seems quite possible that during the 1780s it was Mrs Kelfe's practice to visit Bath in about April and then go on to Oxford white the Bath season was in the doldrums and after the summer term at the university had begun.

At some time in 1785 Mrs Kelfe was in London, at 20 Duke Street, St James's, as is borne out by the following advertisement published during 1785 and quoted by Coke (Confessions of an Incurable Collector):

STRIKING LIKENESSES IN PROFILES

Taken to the greatest Exactness in a few minutes by M. L. Kelfe (From Bond Street, Bath), who most respectfully acquaints the Nobility and Gentry that she draws Profiles on a new and improved method, superior to any for elegance and beauty, which have met with the approbation of the Nobility, who have honored her with sitting. Specimens of 160 different Profiles on glass, satin, enamel, shaded and plain, may be seen at her apartments, No. 20 Duke Street, St. James'.

Large and small shades accurately copied, and the Likeness, critically preserved, reduced to any size.

In this advertisement Mrs Kelfe distinguishes between 'glass' and 'enamel'. We know from the cartier advertisement that she 'enamelled' (that is, painted) 'on glass', but in this advertisement she appears to offer work both on glass and on enamel. She may indeed have been one of the artists who actually offered fired enamel work. (The matter is still open to debate; see Chapter Two.)

At the time of writing this is the last word in print which we have of Mrs Kelfe, although, as I have mentioned, we know that she was painting silhouettes as late as 1794. The two profiles which she painted in Fowey in that year prompt one to speculate on whether she was the first silhouette artist to 'cover' Cornwall. Or perhaps she had by then retired to the delightful seaside town where she took these profiles. We do not know.

So few examples of Mrs Kelfe's large output survive, they were painted over such a relatively long period, and they vary so much in style, that it is extremely difficult to draw any general conclusions about her work. There seems to be no evidence that she produced any profiles which were not bust-length. On her trade label she mentions that she uses 'India ink' which she appears to have thinned where necessary to show the transparency of dresses and also of sitters' hair, which, except in the artist's very early work, is usually shown in full detail. The earliest known profile by her (c. 1778) is painted almost without detail, apart from the thick brushwork indicating flowers at the sitter's bosom and the rough dots outlining the laces on her high head-gear. All the silhouettes which I have examined are painted on laid paper (thicker than that used, for instance, by Charles).

866

By the time she was working in Bath in 1781, Mrs Kelfe was using a finer brush, painting lace headwear and other frills in more exact detail, possibly with a quill. The profile of the undergraduate (Oxford, 1783) is painted in a more distinctive style; the hair of the wig is shown by stippling, and the coils are separated by thick lines. Similar thick lines are used to indicate details of costume, the background of which is rendered by a wash of thinned pigment. In the two profiles painted, many years later, in Cornwall in 1795, the same style of thick lines against a wash base colour is still evident, but the colour of this base is a pale, distinctly bluish grey. The detail is well shown, and the artist has introduced a distinctive double-loop concavity base line as a bust-line finish. She has also made effective use of body colour, gum arabic and (for highlights) Chinese white.

The early profile painted in Southampton, and the profile painted in Bath in 1781, are in oval ebonized wood frames, with gilded 'crenellated' inner borders, such as are characteristic of the period. By 1783 Mrs Kelfe was using oval hammered brass frames (if the illustrated silhouette, taken in Oxford, is typical). The profiles taken in Cornwall are in papier mâché frames which are probably not original. Unfortunately, the profile of Mrs Benetto has been nicked all round to fit the smaller oval of the papier mâché frame.

I have illustrated the trade label which is on the reverse of the profile taken by Mrs Kelfe in Southampton.

870

The text is as follows:

Striking LIKENESSES in PROFILES

Taken to the greatest Exactness

by Mrs. L. KELFE

At No. [?] Bugle Street, Southampton

Price 2s 6d each — The time of Sitting One Minute

Mrs. Kelfe finishes her PROFILES on a new and improved Method, far superior to any that have yet been offered to the Public. Specimens may be seen at her Apartments, which have had the Approbation of several of the Nobility and Gentry who have honoured her with their Sitting. Gentlemen and Ladies may have their Likenesses in Miniature, to wear in their Watches, imitating a small Mezzotinto, drawn in India Ink, at Five Shillings each. Profiles in Colours, with Frame and Glass, Half-a-Guinea; a larger Size, with an elegant burnished gilt Frame, and Glass, Sixteen Shillings only.

Mrs. KELFE respectfully begs Leave to return her most grateful Acknowledgements to the Ladies and Gentlemen residing at Southampton, for the great Encouragement she received in the Course of last Season, and humbly hopes for their Favour and Protection during the Present. Those who please to honour her with their Commands may depend on her utmost Endeavours to give such satisfaction as to merit future Favours.

NB. Large Shades or Pictures accurately copied, and the Likenesses critically preserved. (Southampton: Printed by T. Ford)

I have also illustrated three examples of Mrs Kelfe's signature, taken from the reverses of three of the silhouettes discussed in this entry.

871-873

Ills. 184, 866-873, 987, 997