Spence, John (SCC Newsletter April 2003)

I. or J. Spence

A RARE AND EARLY `CUTTER.’

Mrs. McKechnie has a short entry on this artist in Section I ("Artists who cut silhouettes in paper".) on page 273. In 1978 at the time of the publication of her Book there was only one known work recorded as possibly by I. Spence - this I have photocopied on the right. "I SPENCE CHESTER" was incised on the wooden backing of this silhouette, which led to the attribution. However, Mrs. McKechnie was not certain if this was the name of the artist or possibly the framer. Therefore, further silhouettes would need to come to light cutout in the same style with the incised wooden backing to prove one way or the other.

In recent months this has happened and I am grateful to a Member of the S.C.C. for letting me know about the 'find' and for allowing me to photocopy his two silhouettes by Spence for this article.

In fact there were five silhouettes by Spence for sale in a shop in Leominister. These consisted of three men, a woman and a young girl. Apparently all had come from the same family source - four of the 'sitters' shared the name of LOVETT. Three were backed with the incised wooden 'label' - i.e. two men and the young girl. but all were obviously 'cut' by the same artist. I decided to acquire the three men – The finder having acquired the ladies! I have since written to the vendor in the hope of obtaining further family details, but so far I have had no reply. I have a local contact in Leominister and I am not hopeful that I will receive a reply in spite of a stamped addressed envelope! I understand the vendor did not like the side of the family from which the silhouettes came and decided to sell!

Also I have been in touch with the Chester Archive Department, but it was unable to find any reference to Spence in the local indexes and directories. The archivist was not hopeful with further (now expensive!) research they would be able to come up with anything. The Chester Art Gallery and Museum had nothing to offer.

On looking through my sale catalogue archives I discovered that two works by I. Spence appeared in the Sotheby's Saleroom at Torquay on 23rd.July,1980. I have no further details except that both were backed with the Spence incised backing board. I evidently did not take any notice of this information at the time - it was before I retired and before I took over the Newsletter.

We know that Spence was working in the mid 1780's. The lady illustrated by Mrs. McKechnie is dated 1784 in ink on her backing board. Similarly, several members of the Lovett family are dated 1786 in the same way. There were not many professional artists 'cutting' at this period if you look carefully through Section I in Mrs. McKechnie's Book - most of the 'cutters' were working at a later date. However, there were a few outstanding artist - firstly Mrs. Beetham, who produced 'cut-out' before she developed her skills to paint on paper and the back of convex glass. For illustrations of her work see Mrs. McKechnie on page 287 illus.291, 292 & 293. Her work in this medium is not unlike that of Mr. Spence, but she always shows a small peak on the bust-line to indicate the sleeve demarcation.

I. SPENCE – CONT’D. page 2.

Secondly there was Richard Jorden, who produced cutwork before he concentrated on painting on the back of flat glass. Mrs. McKechnie does not have an entry on him in Section I as she made one of her rare 'mistakes' by putting

his cut work in Section 2 ("Artists who painted silhouettes on card or paper") illustrations 863 and 864 on page 491 are both cut-outs. I am grateful to Martin Riley a Member of the S.C.C. for 'exposing' this mistake in a short article, which I used for a further article in the Newsletter in November 1994 entitled "R. Jorden - a comment on his cut-out work". His work in this medium is bold and again has some similarities to that of Mrs. Beetham and Mr. Spence, but his bust-lines were straighter and the image shallower. Thirdly there was Mrs. Harrington (&Mrs.Collins!) but she produced hollow-cuts, which are quite distinctive. So Mr. Spence was in good company - but whether he was influenced by any of these artists we are unlikely to know. We know nothing about his background or how long his professional career lasted. I doubt if he was very prolific otherwise more of his silhouettes would have come to light by now. Perhaps he was not very commercial and did not travel about the country to enhance his opportunities? However, what is clear from his recorded works he had his own individual style, which I will attempt to illustrate.

Above I have photocopied Colin Nunn's lady and young girl by Mr. Spence. When I first saw the girl I was somewhat doubtful - I wondered about the cutting of her curls as these seemed to have a somewhat 'modern feel'. Mr. Nunn had been intrigued with the 'cutting' of her hat. He then 'discovered' the incising on the backing board, which had not been obvious at first. He then kindly sent the actual silhouette - there was no doubt about its authenticity! I think curls were not Mr. Spence's forte! The lady on the left above does not have an incised wooden backing but she is clearly by Mr. Spence and very similar in every way to the lady illustrated by Mrs. McKechnie. She would appear to be a fine example of Mr. Spence's work with her elaborate ribboned hat. Note the form of her bust-line termination and the cut detail on the front of her bodice.

I. SPENCE CONT'D. page 3.

The later is very typical of Spence's cutting as will be shown later in the article when looking at his men.

Above on this page I have photographed a gentleman by Mr. Spence. On the left I have shown the image somewhat larger than life - actual size is 6cms from the top of his head to the front point of his bust-line. He is placed on the paper backing with plenty of space around - this feature is typical of Mr. Spence's framing. There is no question of 'squashing' the work in the frame! The backing paper is thin and over the years has stained and become somewhat brittle. The paper used for the silhouette has been blackened, so is white on the underside.

Above on the right I have greatly enlarged the image to show cutting detail. I see that it also shows other imperfections! There is little doubt that he was a skillful cutter. I like his 'treatment' of the hair on the top of the head as well as the cutting of the frills at the front of the shirt. The waistcoat button is large and protruding and the eyelash is cut out of the paper and not added with ink. The queue bow is well cut - also the slit to show the queue's demarcation. The peak at the back of the bust-line is sharp and distinctive.

On the next page is another gentleman by Mr. Spence. He is the Rev. Salisbury dated 1786. Also, he has been photographed somewhat larger that life-size on the left and greatly enlarged on the right to show his cutting detail.

I. SPENCE - CONT'D. page 4.

He has all the same details as Mr. Lovett on the previous page. Nevertheless he conveys quite a different 'feel'. He looks considerably grander and does not have Mr. Lovett's half smile. I have a third gentleman (not illustrated) of another Mr. Lovett - he is cut with the same details, but unlike the first two he is minus his wooden backing. I think it can be assumed that Mr. Spence cut-out his men 'sitters' in this format - so attribution should not be a problem.

Below I have photocopied three silhouettes to illustrate three artists who produced cut-outs at the same time as Mr. Spence for the purposes of comparison. On the left is a Duchess of Newcastle by Mrs. Harrington. In the centre is Mrs. J. Lloyd Jones by Mrs. Beetham. On the right is Mrs. Grosvenor by Richard Jorden.

I. SPENCE – CONT’D. page 5

On this page I have photographed on the left the backing board of the Rev. Salisbury 1786 - the incised label can be seen clearly. This vital detail can easily be overlooked especially if the incising is not very 'deep' and there is other writing and dirt on the board. This type of label seems to have been completely unnoticed by the vendor!

On the right is a photograph of the type of frame used by Mr. Spence. It is probably made of pine wood and stained black. It has a gilded crenulated inner edge and is likely to have been considered a cheapish frame at the time. It was the type of frame used by Mrs. Harrington – also it was used by R. Jorden and Mrs. Beetham for their cut-out work. However, the sizes used by the different artists varied. Mrs. Harrington's were 4"X 3" or 4"X 3½". Mrs. Beetham's were somewhat larger -5"x 4¼". Mr. Spence's were even a little larger- 5"x4¾ which allowed him more space around the image. I think this type of frame is well suited to a plain cut-out silhouette - the gilded inner edge giving it a slight 'lift'.

Finally have a look at your collections and let me know if you have any silhouette that you have not attributed and which you think might be by Mr. Spence after you have read this article.