Colpoys, Timothy

Introduction:

With favourable newspaper reviews and advertisements plotting an itinerant career spanning more than 2 decades, it's surprising that recorded works by Irish-born silhouette cutter TIMOTHY COLPOYS (ca. 1797-1865) are today so scarce. Like many silhouettists active in the mid-19th century, he also made a transition to the relatively new art of photography.

McKechnie illustrates a single bust-sized work signed and dated 1834. Taken in Northampton, housed in a papier-mâché frame and competently cut, its applied highlighting is at best mediocre. However, more signed works need to surface before making an objective assessment of his abilities.

At the somewhat advanced age of 32, Colpoys is first recorded in the YORK HERALD 4th April 1829. Advertising himself "Pupil of the late R.COSWAY Esq., RA...", portrait miniatures were offered from 1 to 10 guineas and profiles from 1 to 10 shillings, along with a "...large assortment of frames at low prices".

Colpoys' claim of association with Royal Academician Richard Cosway (1742-1821), one of the most keenly patronised portrait miniaturists of his day, should be treated sceptically, given the cavalier adherence to truth so often promoted in contemporary advertising. Perhaps tellingly, Colpoys is unlisted in Daphne Foskett's DICTIONARY OF BRITISH MINIATURE PAINTERS.

A month after his initial advertisement, a corrrespondent in the YORK HERALD 30th May 1829 related "Mr.Colpoys, an artist of some celebrity, is...departing for the fashionable summer retreat of Scarborough, where last season...he was patronised by its most distinguished families". Though proving Colpoys was crafting silhouettes the previous year, in 1828, how he generated income before then is unknown. However, recent research suggests he may have been an actor.

A playbill of 4th February 1824 in the JOHN JOHNSON COLLECTION of printed ephemera records "Mr.Colpoys from the Theatre Royal Dublin..." was appearing at the New Surrey Theatre, London. As the profilist was Irish-born and the surname 'Colpoys' is rare, it's possible the actor became the artist.

Bolstering the theory, it appears the artist possessed at least a modicum of dramatic talent, as the COVENTRY HERALD 20th August 1830 records Timothy Colpoys performing, between toasts, a recitation and 5 Irish-themed songs at the anniversary dinner of the Freemen of Coventry Association. Interestingly, Colpoys' youngest son, the memorably named Hibernia Colpoys (1841-1893) pursued a career as a music hall vocalist.

Pursuing his own career, profilist Colpoys in the DERBY MERCURY 11th November 1829, now styled himself an "...artist of London and Brighton...[offering]...Striking Likenesses by that unerring Machine the Physiognotrace..." and instruction in 4 lessons in Poonah Painting and Mezzotint for half a guinea furnishing pupils "...with the use of colours gratis".

A similarly phrased advertisement appeared in the COVENTRY HERALD in April 1830 and it's probable one fee-paying pupil was Margaret Tanfield (1809-1885), eldest daughter of Coventry's Collector of Excise. Marrying Colpoys in December 1830, she appears as "Mrs. C" in the WARWICK ADVERTISER 9th April 1831 "...giving instruction in the New and Beautiful Art of  MEZZOTINT and POONAH PAINTING...[while Mr.Colpoys offered miniatures]...from one to five guineas equal to those...he charged in London from two to ten guineas". However, an absence of advertising suggests his claim to be a London and Brighton artist was bogus.

Between 1830 and 1850 Colpoys' known 'home turf' encompassed Lancashire and the Midlands, where press reviews were consistently fulsome. The COVENTRY HERALD 2nd April 1830 described him "ingenious with a versatility of talent". The BIRMINGHAM JOURNAL 29th April 1837 assessed his "...colouring and handling good" while the MANCHESTER TIMES 26th December 1840 visiting Colpoys' "Likeness Gallery...[were]...struck with the excellence of the likenesses...many recognisable at a glance".

The 1851 Census finds Colpoys had moved South, locating him a "miniature painter" lodging with his family in Winchester. Three years later, listed an "ANIMAL AND PORTRAIT PAINTER" in the DEVIZES AND WILTS GAZETTE 25th May 1854, Colpoys offers PORTRAITS IN EVERY VARIETY OF STYLE, PORTRAITS IN OIL (LIFE SIZE), Miniatures on Ivory, PHOTOGRAPHIC LIKENESSES &c...[with letters of recommendation]...from families in the immediate neighbourhood".

Colpoys' final neighbourhood was Castle Street in the Welsh seaport of Swansea. The 1861 Census records him as "Lenardi T. Colpoys, Miniature Painter and Photographer" and from 1862 "Colpoys and Co's Fancy Repository and Photographic Depot" or the "Lenardi Photographic Gallery" appears regularly in local newsprint.

Regarding his family circumstances, it appears his full name, as evidenced by an 1828 Yorkshire Freemasons' register, was George Timothy Collopy Colpoys. As Timothy Collopy Colpoys, he married Margaret Tanfield in 1830. Between 1831-1841 she gave birth to 2 sons and 3 daughters. Only Sarah Tanfield (1835-after 1871) and son Hibernia (1841-1893) survived to adulthood.

Colpoys himself died on 24th August 1865. His obituary appears in the CAMBRIA DAILY LEADER of 2nd September "on the 24 ult. at his residence 44 Castle-Street, Swansea, after a short illness, to the inexpressible grief of his bereaved family, Mr. Timothy Colpoys, artist, aged 68".

Revised 7 November 2024 (Brian Wellings)