West, John (McKechnie Section 7)

See also Sections Two and Six

An artist, recorded by Jackson (The History of Silhouettes), who can probably be identified with John West (fl. 1795-1830), a miniature painter and drawing master, recorded by Foskett, who worked in Bath, although documented silhouettes by him are signed simply 'West'. No silhouettes by him are, however, currently available. Jackson quotes the following advertisement, published (presumably in a Derby newspaper) in 1811:

Miniature and profile painter from London, respectfully informs the ladies and gentlemen of Derby and its environs that he has taken apartments at Mr Price's in the Market Place, where he intends for a short time practising the above Art, and where specimens may be seen. Mr West requires only two short sittings, and will reduce the likeness with the greatest exactitude, within the compass of rings, brooches, &c.

Miniatures from two to six guineas. Profiles taken correctly in one minute by means of his portable machine. The construction and simplicity of this instrument render it one of the most ingenious inventions of the present day, as it is impossible in its delineation to differ from the outline of the original, even by the breadth of a hair.

Profiles on card, in black 5s., in colour 10s. 6d; on wood, in colours, from one guinea and upwards. Attendance from ten in the morning until five in the evening.

Mr West never permits a painting to quit his hands but what it is a likeness.

The identification of West, the profilist, with John West, the miniaturist, is strengthened by the offer in this advertisement of portrait miniatures and profiles in colour. West certainly offered a variety of work, and it seems likely that two examples signed 'West, 1789', sold in 1948 by Blairman of London from the collection of Sir Henry Sutcliffe Smith, were by this artist. These were described in the catalogue of the sale as 'a rare pair of portraits of a man in uniform and a lady by West, with black profiles, coloured hair and clothing, fully signed "West, 1789" in black frames'. There is a further note that these examples were mentioned by Jackson (Dictionary) and that they were formerly in the Wellesley collection. Mills does not list them, since they were probably not acquired for the collection until after the publication of his book. In the entry in her Dictionary Jackson implies that there was a third silhouette, also of a man and signed in the same manner as the other two examples, in the Sutcliffe Smith collection, but I can find no record of this in the Blairman sale catalogue.

With regard to West's sojourn in Derby, it was not unusual for artists who worked in Bath to travel farther afield in the summer season (Rosenberg, for example, visited Leeds in 1798). This might account for the phrase 'from London' (where he may have spent the summer) in the Derby advertisement.

I give below details of John West, the miniaturist, on the assumption that he is to be identified with the profilist.

In the Bath Chronicle of 8 December 1792, there appeared an announcement that he had moved to 1 Northumberland Buildings. His marriage to a Miss Catcher was announced in the same newspaper on 2 October 1795, when (according to Foskett) he was still living in Northumberland Buildings. (The landscape painter Joseph West, born in 1797, was probably his son). Long states that by 1801 he had moved to Bath Street, and that by 1809-1811 he had moved again, to 2 North Parade, where he is known to have been still living 1819 - c.1830. He is listed as 'miniature painter' in the Bath Guide for 1800, 1801, 1803, 1806, 1807 and 1810.