Hervé, Henry I (SCC Newsletter November 2000)

Henry I Herve

His work on card.

In this article I am having a look at Henry Herve I 's painted work on card only - i.e. those works that are backed with a Herve trade label and are painted on card or paper.

Firstly some brief background details on Mr. Herve. He was of French extraction and came from a family of artists. Daphne Foskett lists eleven members of the family in her standard work on miniature painters. Also, Mrs. McKechnie has an appendix at the back of Book (Appendix Three pages 769-770), which lists twenty members of the family - not all artists!. Two other members of the family were profilists and have entries in the Book. Unfortunately there is no records of his dates of birth and death. However, we know that he worked for William Farthing (see Mrs. McKechnie p. 527) prior to 1807. It is unlikely that Mr. Farthing was an artist himself - works that bear his label are almost certainly by H. Herve. It seems that Herve took over the Farthing business at 12, Cheapside, London in 1807. We know this from the street directories of the period. Mr. Herve continued to work from this address until about 1837 - although it is possible according to Mrs. McKechnie that Henry Herve II (his son) was working from this address in the later years. We know nothing about Mr. Herve's family circumstances in spite of efforts by Mrs. McKechnie to ferret this out.

Henry Herve I has an entry in all Sections of Mrs. McKechnie's Book - with the exception of Section 7 - i.e. the section dealing with artists who painted their sitters' costume in full or part colour. He was not an artist who used colour in his work. His main entry is in Section I - as he is best known for, his great output of hollow-cut silhouettes in plain black. I have photocopied two of these works from the Book on the right - note the outline of these works and the bust-line termination. Most of these works are to be found in turned fruitwood frames and often unlabelled. It is strange that more are not available for collectors to buy in view of the number produced. Herve also painted silhouettes on the back of convex glass in dense black - many of these were backed with a buffish pink composition. These are attractive works and are usually of men - these do turn up in the salerooms from time to time but are often unattributed if unlabelled. I have photocopied three works on glass from the Book - one is on the right at the bottom of this page and the other two are at the top of the next page. Again note the outlines and bust-line terminations. Herve painted portrait miniatures and exhibited at the Royal Academy. Finally, just to confuse matters, he was a gifted copyist and is known to have copied Mier's work.

Mr. Herve used Hawkin's Patent Machine to obtain his outlines - whether he was working on glass, plaster, ivory, card or producing his hollow-cuts. As a

Hervé I - his work on card.

result his outlines are generally recognisable on whatever medium he is working. He made no secret of his machine and referred to it on his trade labels. He claimed it took 5 minutes to get the outline. A. Mayne (author of British Profile Miniaturists) was quite an admirer of Herve's work. He took the view that Herve

did not really need this machine but he used it as a talking point! I think this is a rather odd view and I am more inclined to go along with Mrs. N. Jackson's view that people liked the use of a machine as they felt happier that a likeness was going to be achieved!!

WORKS ON CARD.

Herve's works on card are described in Section 2 of the Book. I think these works are amongst his best. These are usually housed in oval fruitwood frames. The base colour is black. Gum arabic is used sparingly to show details of men's jackets. Men's shirts and stocks are painted with skill in thinned pigment. Men are painted solidly - delicacy is shown in the painting of the hair outside the main body and as mentioned the details of shirt and stock. On the other hand women are painted with some transparency on their clothing as well as the same delicacy with the hair painted outside the main body. I have found no gum arabic on silhouettes of women. The works are larger than many of this period. The man illustrated below is 3" from the top of his head to the front of his bust-line termination. The woman is 22" for the same measurement. Eyelashes are very small and simple and quite difficult to see without a magnifying glass. I apologise for the quality of the two photographs below. Unfortunately these were taken on a hot sunny day, when it proved impossible to avoid the problems with convex glass. As a result justice has not been done to the works, which

Hervé I work on card.

are very attractive in my view. However, I think you can still see something of their quality and detail. Both have labels on the back, which I will illustrate and discuss later in this article. Neither has been out of it’s frame. Both used to be part of Mrs. McKechnie’s Collection and are illustrated in her Book on page 486 illus. 836 & 837.

Illustrated above are two further silhouettes in the same ‘mould’ as the first pair. The woman has been re-photographed larger then life-size on a more suitable autumn day! I hope she shows more clearly some of the quality of the painting. The delicacy of her gauze head-dress is shown very well. Her neck frill and the bronzing on her dress are skilfully painted. She looks a homely middle-aged lady of no great beauty – but one is able to get the ‘feel’ of her personality! Her companion has a simpler shirt than the man on the previous page – but this is drawn with care and the texture well conveyed in thinned pigment. Both silhouettes have been carefully cleaned as they were very dirty and neglected when purchased. Both have labels and are housed in oval fruitwood frames. All bust-line terminations are plunging and this is particularily obvious with the women, whose busts are shallower than those of the men.

It is possible that Mr. Herve painted works on card for silhouette jewellery. It should be possible to recognise such works from the shape of the outline and the bust-line termination. Jewellery pieces by Herve are rare and may possible be signed “Herve” under the bust-line.

Hervé I work on card.

HIS LABELS. Six labels are recorded at least one other label with a slightly different wording to any of the six. So it is possible that others may appear. Mrs. McKechnie has illustrated all the labels with the exception of No. 2 on p. 317-318. She has also recorded the full text of all these labels on pages 234-236. On his label No. 1 he referred to himself as "Successor to Mr. Farthing”. The address for all his labels is No. 12 Cheapside. From his No. 2 label onwards he pledges his word that he will return the money if the likeness is not good! Also he states "it is a rule never to let any person have the profiles of any gentleman or lady, till he is satisfied the party themselves have no objection". He clearly believed in playing safe, but I like it!

His labels mention all the surfaces on which he is able to work, but he did not mention bronzing until his No. 5 & 6 labels were produced. I have illustrated both these labels on this page, as either one or the other backs the four works I have mention illustrated in this article. On his label No. 3 Herve started to the number of his previous sitters. This label was printed c. 1810 and stated that "he has taken the likenesses of upwards 10,000 persons! By label No. 5 the number of likenesses had risen to 12,000.

Trade label No. 5 is illustrated above - this is at the back of gentleman with the more elaborate shirt & stock illustrated on the second page of this article. The label illustrated below is No. 6 - this is on the back of the two ladies and the second gentleman. This label is always placed on its side at the back of the frame. after this date. Mrs. McKechnie for his early work and tended to use papier mache frames often without brass hangers for his later works. I have not found this to be the case - the fruitwood frames continued to be used for the later work. As well as 12 Cheapside Herve also resided at 21, Paradise Place - this address was later used by Charles Herve II. It is not clear what his relationship was to Henry.