Brookes, Frederick

Introduction:

Very little has been written about Frederick Brookes as a profilist. However, he worked in the period which saw the popularity of photography increase, and therefore the decline of the silhouette artist. Also the work of Brookes is not considered to be highly skilled or detailed, and therefore not very collectable.

McKecknie recorded Brookes as a profilist after being shown a silhouette owned by Miss D Hare, a well known collector. This profile of a man is inscribed with the words ‘Fredk Brookes, Silhouette Artist, Royal Aquarium, Westminster’. This is his only known place of work. No framing methods or trade labels have been recorded.

Brookes' style for his silhouettes appears to have been plain, with little detail. He used superficial bronzing to highlight clothing and facial features. The bustline terminations of some of his silhouettes are sloping with a sharp ‘clip’ at the front. His silhouettes were unusually large for the period, recorded as being 3.25-3.75 inches in height. McKecknie noted that on the silhouette owned by Miss Hare, the shirt front and collar of the sitter are cut away and a piece of black paper was used in the gap to denote a stock pin, which she had not seen done by any other artist.