Gilbert, Burton

Gender:
Male
Date and place of birth:
Presumed 1829, London
Date and place of death:
dec. 31.10.1879, Derby Asylum, Derbyshire
Worked:
(fl) Presumed 1840s - ca. 1850s
Known places of work:
Huddersfield and presumed Sheffield
Known techniques:
Cut-work
Known materials:
Paper and card
Frames:
Unrecorded
Signature:
Recorded

Introduction:

2023 research discovered 'B. GILBERT to be BURTON GILBERT (1829-1879), younger son of BURTON WRIGHT GILBERT(1790-1848), an itinerant profilist and mezzotint artist. Initially one half of the GILBERT and BARNES partnership (fl.1825-1826). B.W.GILBERT then worked independently, touring towns in England, Scotland and Ireland until his death from apoplexy in 1848. His profiles are rare, but several are recorded.

However, son Burton's recorded output is scarcer still and limited to one full-length bronze-highlighted cut profile laid on card. Illustrated in McKechnie, the silhouette depicts a girl with a skipping rope. McKechnie dates the work to the early 1840s. The work shows poor attention to detail and Burton Gilbert would have been little older than 12 when he cut the likeness.

It transpires 2 older brothers were also recorded artists:

CHARLES GILBERT (1819-1848) has no attributable work to his name but likely was taught by his father. His marriage in March 1847 in Sheffield records him an "Artist" of Hull. A year later, the HULL PACKET of the 20th of October 1848 records "October 18, aged 29, suddenly much lamented, Mr.Charles Gilbert, artist, late of the Victoria Rooms Hull".

HENRY GILBERT (1822-after 1866) is recorded due to a recently discovered bust-sized work cut and skilfully embellished with bronze highlights. The work, ca.1840, is housed in a papier mâché frame bearing an unrecorded trade label re "H.GILBERT ARTIST of REGENT ST. LONDON and 73 PRINCES ST. EDINBURGH.". While remaining his only verified work, Henry Gilbert also appears in the CUMBERLAND PACKET of  the 14th of September 1841, offering "CORRECT LIKENESSES either in BLACK OR COLOURS taken by MR. and MRS. H. GILBERT".

Brother BURTON GILBERT left fewer and finally starker records. In the Scottish 1841 Census, aged 12, he is listed with his father, mother and 2 sisters in Ayr. His father is recorded an "Artist". The 1851 English Census locates Burton as a "Portrait Painter" lodging in a Temperance Hotel in Market St., Huddersfield.

For the next 27 years he is absent from records until committed to Derby Asylum in September 1878. He is recorded dying there the following month on October the 31st.

Revised 26 February 2023 (Brian Wellings)

 

Additional research about Burton Gilbert:

Source: McKechnie (Author of, British Silhouette Artists and their Work 1760-1860)

Gilbert, Burton (McKechnie Section 1)